Peter Wynne Rees, the former chief planner for the City of London who recently criticised planning policy across the capital for allowing too many high-rise blocks that were being marketed by developers to wealthy absentee landlords in the Far East and Russia, is to be one of the expert panellists at a debate on the future of Crystal Palace and its park.
“Do what you like. We’ll take your cash, and we won’t tell the locals”, is what someone might have said when Boris Johnson and Chinese developer Ni Zhao met at last year’s announcement
Wynne Rees said that high-rise blocks being developed in London are being aimed at sales to “dirty Russian money” and “Chinese gamblers”.
In Croydon, one residential block nearing completion has been marketed exclusively in Hong Kong, with potential “investors” assured by the developers that none of the apartments will be occupied by local authority tenants or those on social security.
But London’s Tory Mayor has meanwhile granted Chinese developers ZhongRong free-rein to build on a chunk of Crystal Palace Park, although the detail of the £500 million scheme for a “new Crystal Palace” remain unclear more than a year since the London Mayor announced he was handing over this valuable piece of public property.
It is the controversy over the scheme to build on the park which prompted the formation of The Information Project, and the staging of a series of debates, the third of which is called “Heritage and Legacy” and is being held on Wednesday, June 25 at the Salvation Army on Westow Street, Upper Norwood, from 7.30pm.
Wynne Rees, now the professor of Places and City Planning at University College London, is joined on the panel by Dr John Bold, a former head of architecture for the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, and Leo Hollis, a historian.
The organisers say that in this session, there will be a comparison of historical trends that shaped the original Crystal Palace and its park, with emergent trends in urban space. On the agenda will be how the “legacy” of the London Olympics has passed-by Crystal Palace and its National Sports Centre, which has lost its elite sporting venue status and has therefore become the city’s biggest loser from the Games, with the surrounding area being affected accordingly.
“Is private development the only way to germinate community? Are there policy mechanisms or other means to avoid removing a public amenity from the public purse?”, are also among the questions the organisers expect to be raised on the night.
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Coming to Croydon
- Lakes Playground Action Group fun day, June 14
- Croydon Green Fair, North End, June 14
- Elm Tree Cottage garden open day, June 15
- Norwood Society Talk: The Concrete Church, June 19
- David Lean Cinema: Suzanne, June 19
- Airport House swing dance free event, June 21
- Classic Car Show at Purley Rotary Fields, June 22
- David Lean Cinema: Feet from Stardom, June 23
- Crystal Palace Overground Festival, June 26-29
- David Lean Cinema: The Lunchbox, June 26
- Warnings to the Curious, Spread Eagle Theatre, June 27
- St Peter’s Village Fayre, South Croydon, June 28
- South Norwood Allotments open day, June 28
- Fragile, Spread Eagle Theatre, July 24-26
- Coast to Capital business briefing, July 4
- CODA’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at Wandle Park, Jul 30-Aug 2
- Elm Tree Cottage garden open day, Aug 10
- Norwood Society Talk: War Memorials, Sep 18
- Norwood Society Talk: From Fire Station to Theatre, Oct 16
- Norwood Society Talk: Lambeth’s Archives, Nov 20
Inside Croydon: Croydon’s only independent news source, based in the heart of the borough: 72,342 average monthly page views (Jan-Mar 2014)
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