CAMPAIGNER'S FEARS OVER PARK FUTURE

9 July 2009

John Prendergast
johnp@southwarknews.org

EXCLUSIVE
A former Lib Dem councillor, who fought with party allies to save Burgess Park in the 1990s, is accusing his old political colleagues of selling it down the river.

Donnachadh McCarthy now works as an environmentalist and has viewed with horror the council’s Aylesbury Action Plan (AAP), which he claims will threaten the open space.

Chief amongst his fears are buildings as high as twenty blocks which could be erected on Albany Road, and which would tower over the green lung. He also is concerned that areas  such as St George’s open space and New Church Road wildlife space could disappear, as new maps in the plan appear to omit them.

Mr McCarthy said: "Can you imagine the council considering doing this to Dulwich Park? There would be a revolution. But they will try to get away with it here as it's such a poor area.

"I took a year off work to stop Labour doing what they were doing in 1992, and now the Liberal Democrat council are doing the same thing.

"They also said they were putting the park into trust, which they have not done. They seem to be dedicating the park to the purpose of regenerating the Aylesbury Estate, but what about the people who live there and use the park?"
He added that allowing buildings to be constructed on the park for the use of sporting activities and healthy living, could in fact threaten the park’s Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) status. The reasons for this are that planners could use the AAP as justification for building on green areas, therefore bypassing MOL restrictions.

Cllr Paul Noblet, the Executive Member for Regeneration, said: "We are committed to both improving Burgess Park, and to extending it into the Aylesbury Estate as part of our ambitious regeneration proposals. We are definitely not removing the Metropolitan Open Space designation of the park and we are not building any roads through it.

"Our vision is to make Burgess a park that offers something for all ages, and attracts visitors from the rest of the borough and right across London to its café, lake, wildlife and more formal areas.

"Through the hard work of local residents, living both on the Aylesbury and elsewhere, we have secured £6 million to invest in the park. A working group of local councillors and stakeholders from all sides of the park is in the process of being set up, to ensure that the opportunity to make improvements to the park, including removing the existing access roads, is not missed, and that the ideas of all residents are represented equally."

Currently the AAP is with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who must ensure it is legally compliant before approving it.

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