Work on multi-million pound Burgess Park transformation set to start

Published 21 April 2011

Over 90,000 new plants are to go in by spring 2012, with a temporary partial closure programme in place to allow works to progress.

Work is to get underway imminently on the £6m improvements to Southwark's largest park. Following a major public consultation, a once in a generation upgrade to Burgess Park will deliver a raft of improvements in response to residents' needs.

Just over two years ago it was announced that Burgess Park had been chosen as the recipient of a £2m award from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, which was matched by a further £4m from central government, and further funding from the council.

Now contractors are set to get to work, carrying out improvements to the lake, creating better entrances, and removing redundant roads and pathways.

Visitors to the park will also see:

92,000 newly planted items
Two new wetland habitats created for the redesigned lake
2,300m² gain in scrubland
164 extra trees
A new over fives play ground
A newly created lawn and wildlife garden ( St. George's gardens)
New 'rain gardens' that capture surface water drainage at entrances

Following preliminary preparation work earlier this year, it's now expected that work on the park will start in June.

The work will result in the closing off of several parts of the park, but the cafe and Chumleigh Gardens areas, the sports facilities (tennis, Astroturf, rugby and cricket), Cobourg Road wildlife area, St. George's Church , the old baths and library, the adventure playground, Surrey Canal Walk and spaces to the east of Trafalgar Avenue will remain open.

The work, which will last for around nine months, has been designed to keep the closures to a minimum, whilst ensuring that people can enjoy their new park as soon as possible.

Cllr Barrie Hargrove, cabinet member for transport, environment and recycling at Southwark Council, said: "It's great news that we're finally starting work on Burgess Park. It's a wonderful asset to the borough but has long needed this facelift, and I'm really excited by the changes these improvements will bring. Because of the scale of the works it will inevitably mean the closure of large parts of the park, but I'd ask the public to bear with us. The end result will be worth it - a vibrant, more attractive park for the entire borough to be proud of."

Background information

What is staying open and what is closing

The majority of the park will remain out of bounds to allow work to take place. The council wants to make sure work at the park is safe and secure, presents no danger whatsoever to the public, and that all the works are completed on time.

The areas which will still be open are:

Chumleigh Gardens including the cafe, 1st place Children's centre, Art in the Park and Southwark Tigers club house.
All official sports areas - i.e. outdoor gym, football and tennis centres, rugby and cricket pitches
Adventure playground/children's services area at the junction of Wells Way and Albany Road
Extensions of the main park like Surrey Canal Walk, and the green space by Old Kent Road and Glengall Ave
Cobourg Road wildlife area
The old baths and library
Space to the east of Trafalgar Avenue

We are producing a plan showing this information. This will soon be available online; in Park Life Cafe, Burgess Park; Burgess Park sports centres; libraries; one stop shops and local community notice boards.

It's expected that the contractors will start work in June, but there will be a period of about four to five weeks when there is still access to parts of the park after that.

During this time cyclists will still be able to cycle through the park. However once the park is hoarded off, they will not be able to use the park as a through route. Cyclists can use Wells Way , Albany Road, St Georges Way instead. Alternative cycling and walking routes will be shown in the map being produced.

For more information about the plans, the park itself, and the changes to access to parts of the park, please visit the Burgess Park web pages.