2004 and before

Sorry people but this page is still incomplete

When the Surrey Square Park was created in 2001 it unfortunately split the open ground present in the square into two sections. One was the park itself the other along Albridge Street was subdivided between a concreted and originally fenced basketball court and a plot where pre-existing buildings were demolished. Both are Council property and the former should be maintained by the Council Leisure and Sports Department (but nobody seems able to find who actually is responsible within that Department and certainly nobody maintains it) and the latter was left to be sold off (The land is held freehold by the London Borough of Southwark, it was acquired pursuant to the Albridge Street (No. 3) CPO 1976 under part 3 of the Housing Act 1957. The acquisition was completed on 31^stMarch 1981). The site seems to have remained in a vacant state for many yeas before and certainly since the early 80's no work whatsoever have been carried out by the local authorities. At the end of the 1990s the land appears on the Council maps, The Southwark Plan (or Unitary Development Plan) as Borough Open Land, the legal status enjoyed by the rest of the Surrey Square Park. In earlier maps and up till 2001 (in the contract to lease the Surrey Square Park to the Charity Groundwork Southwark till January 2006) the area was not recognised as part of the remaining Park. Non the less in the 2007 UDP the wildlife area was marked as an area a "site of local importance for nature conservation" but in spite of enquiries I failed to find the Council act that formalises the area new legal status. However areas of local ecological interess I have been told have recently all been upgraded by the Council to Borough Open Land status.

This parcel of land at the end of what should have been an integral part of the Surrey Square Park, has been derelict for over 20 years and during this time many animals, plants and birds have made their home there.

Interestingly the original Surrey Square Park project included both of these areasⁱ but when the plan was finalised the plots along Albridge Street were unaccountably left out. In fact when enquires where made about the legal status of the end plot as late as 2002, the Council officer contacted expressed surprise that the plot had not already been sold for development ii.

Hopefully in future the status of this area should be preserved and the plot, that has become a successful breeding ground for many birds, should not be sold off .

The idea of the plot as a wildlife garden was also integral to the plans of the Surrey Square Park Steering Groupⁱⁱⁱ. The group that first lobbied for the creation of the Surrey Square Park and that eventually would be known as the Surrey Square Park Action for the Community and Environment. The group, fostered by the charity Groundwork Southwark, had in numerous occasions in the following years rehashed the concept iv. Inputs furthering the establishment of a wildlife area were welcomed both by SSPACE and by Groundwork Southwark that until January 2006 was also leasing and managing the Surrey Square Park^v.

Also a number of volunteer initiatives were carried out by SSPACE to maintain and ameliorate the green spaces including several clean ups of the Albridge Street plot^vi.

After the demise of SSPACE the clean-up of the plot was still going on and has become a regular occurrence entirely financed and organised by well meaning residents^vii.

Within their early aims of SSPACE was the project of creating a wildlife garden and in mention it in their their constitution viii The Kinglake Tenants & Residents Association has also passed a resolution calling for creation of the “wildlife area” and its integration with the Surrey Square Park^ix.

A petition has been also collected to foster the project aims^x.

Regardless of the well meaning intentions of these organisations the "Wildlife Area" was in practice looked after by a small group of residents that kept on campaigning and helped to maintain the site.

In 2008 the site was chosen as one of the places eligible for the BBC "breathing Places" and underwent a well publicised reconstruction that is still continuing.

i [Appendix 1] GroundWork Southwark A summary of the Surrey Square Park Action Plan 1999

ii

^. See footnote n.7

iii [Appendix 2] The Grand Hope (Editors: Koye Oyedeji and Nicky Collier, 2000) Wildlife Garden, the grand hope, the newsletter of the Surrey Square Park Steering Group, No 1, Winter 2000 Groundwork Southwark

[Appendix 3] The Grand Hope (Editors: Koye Oyedeji and Nicky Collier, 2000) landscape proposals, the grand hope, the newsletter of the Surrey Square Park Steering Group, No 1, Winter 2000 Groundwork Southwark

iv [Appendix 4] Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment (SSPACE) (November, 2001) Constitution Groundwork Southwark

[Appendix 8] Katrina McGrath (November, 2002) SSPACE Meeting Minutes Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment (SSPACE)

[Appendix 9] Katrina McGrath (January, 2003) SSPACE Meeting Minutes Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment (SSPACE)

[Appendix 10] Katrina McGrath (March, 2003) SSPACE Meeting Minutes Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment (SSPACE)

[Appendix 11] Katrina McGrath (April, 2003) SSPACE Meeting Minutes Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment (SSPACE)

[Appendix 12] S.Bono There’s wildlife in Albridge St. … ParK , The Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment Newsletter, June, 2003 Groundwork Southwark

[Appendix 16] S.Bono Wildlife Area Project ParK , The Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment Newsletter, Summer, 2004 Groundwork Southwark

[Appendix 17] Mélanie Ducret (September, 2004) SSPACE Meeting Minutes Surrey Square Park Action for the Community & Environment (SSPACE)

[Appendix 20] Editor Surrey Square Fair success and Going MADD , SAVO News, October 2003, Issue n.44 Southwark Association of Voluntary Organisations (SAVO)

v [Appendix 6] Correspondence between the author and Katrina McGrath of Groundwork Southwark (2002)

[Appendix 7] Correspondence between the author and Katrina McGrath of Groundwork Southwark (2003)

vi See footnote n.10

vii S. Bono Wildlife Area Project, Kinglake News article October 2004, Autumn 2004 Kinglake Tenants & Residents Association

viii [Appendix 2 and 4]

ix See footnote 8

Link to the introduction page