| Topic: | Re:Gunnersbury Park - What if..... | |
| Posted by: | Anthony Waller | |
| Date/Time: | 24/04/13 12:04:00 |
| That's a good read. I think that too much has been focused on the buildings and not enough on the rest of the park which is more dire than the mansion. In my 43 years I have never set foot in it, but played around it and at least enjoyed the grounds around it and still do. But the keeness of people to draft in QCs and the like to unpick the covenent is vandalism by people with motives far removed from protecting the park for all. I think it may well be better to have a trust run the park and rather than a load of 'friends' who seem to be bogged down with the intellectual and political mire and effectively on a choke chain by the councils, a 'Freinds' made up of volunteers with a can do attitude to tackle the less difficult and specialist aspects of caring for the park. Conservation volunteers have been doing stuff like this for years. Kew is short of space for it's now world renowned horiticultural courses. Why not a short franchise lease with them. I went to a meeting for a free school last night. It highlighted the shortage of spaces in existing schools. So why not move the sixth form of a school to the mansion? Sixth formers are over 16, and don't need a playground or the kind of security that in 16s need. In fact Gunnersbury school left it's sixth form at the Gunnersbury site for some time, then swapped it to the 1st and 2nd years, and I think reverted to the 6th form until the Ride site was able to accomodate the whole school. It worked very well - I was there at both sites. Gunnersbury park had the all important sports facility and the 6th form requirements were less then for the lower school. That would free up space for 11-16 year olds without having to find sites to build on at great cost. But at least it is for ordinary local people and not exclusive. The park thus remains largely undivided. |