High Level Rope Adventure Course - Go-Ape

February, 2017

The junior course is due to open on 18th March 2017. The senior course will open in the Summer.

August, 2016

The planning application for a GoApe High Ropes Course in Alexandra Park has been approved. It is to be sited over the edges of the "football field" below the boating lake.

The plan has now been revised so that the visual impact will be reduced. There will be two courses, one for juniors and one for adults. Construction of the junior course will start in mid-August and will take around 6 weeks, and the adult course will be built later in the year. You can find more details about the operating times and the environmental mitigation which GoApe will undertake in a letter which Louise Stewart, the Alexandra Park and Palace Chief Executive, has sent to residents adjacent to that part of the Park, which can be found here.

March, 2016

The planning application for a Go Ape High Ropes Course in Alexandra Park has been approved. It is to be sited over the "football field" between what was the western deer enclosure and the boating lake. The approval is subject to Go Ape commissioning an Ecological Impact Assessment phase 2 survey for invertebrates and preparing a mitigation strategy. This has to include habitats for breeding birds and an educational resource such as interpretation panels and a schools pack highlighting the value of the trees as a habitat.

The plan has been revised so that the visual impact will be much reduced. There will be two courses, one for juniors and one for adults. You can find more background about the project here and the full approval document here.

January, 2016

Planning Application

The planning application for a Go Ape High Ropes Course has been submitted. It is proposed to be sited above the "Football Field" between the Western Deer Enclosure and the Boating Lake.

This is on the Council website planning number HGY/2015/3141 and can be found by following this link.

Previous reports on these proposals on our website can be found at this link.

The Friends position:

The Friends of Alexandra Park were involved quite a lot when Go Ape’s proposals were first put before the AP Consultative Committee. Those first plans centred on use of the avenue of plane trees either side of the road which runs from the boating lake down past the deer enclosure. We objected strongly to that partly on the grounds that it disfigured the lovely old plane trees, and also because the cables would be strung across the road and the noise and activity over people’s heads would spoil their enjoyment of a stroll down the avenue.

Go Ape fairly readily agreed to modify their plans, to avoid any use of the plane trees, and to site the course along the edges of the Upper Field. It is a pity that the peace and quiet of the Upper Field is lost, but there was a lot of support for a Go Ape course from families who use the Park, so on balance we are supportive.

January, 2015

· The AP&P Trust is now aiming to conclude agreements with Go-Ape for a course to be constructed based on the revised design which the Friends had accepted. This means that the course will not interfere with the avenue of plane trees between the Boating Lake and the deer enclosure. The fence round the deer enclosure will be moved so that the course does not pass over the deer.

October, 2014

Go Ape, a company that builds and operates High Rope Adventure courses in forests and woodland, has made a proposal to the Alexandra Park & Palace (AP&P) Trust for a high rope course in Alexandra Park.

The initial proposal sited the course in the trees on the slope behind the Lakeside Café, and along and across the avenue of plane trees on the road down to the deer enclosure.

When we asked members for views on this, there was a general welcome for the idea of having such a course in the Park, but some serious reservations about having ropes and platforms strung between the old plane trees and across the road.

Gordon, our Chair, raised these concerns at the Consultative Committee of the AP&P Trust. As a result he was invited to meet the Go Ape representative, with AP&P management, and Go Ape is now considering how it can design a course avoiding use of the avenue of plane trees.

As of October 7^th, 2014, the revised design from Go-Ape had not emerged, but commercial negotiations between the AP&P Trust and Go-Ape were continuing.