| Topic: | Re:Scarmongering on Gunnersbury Park | |
| Posted by: | Colin Ellar | |
| Date/Time: | 09/11/08 14:11:00 |
| I don't think expressing concern about a proposal, debated in secret, to take a substantial part of the park and develop it as a gated estate of "top end" housing is jumping on a bandwagon. I am sure lots of residents were horrified at the idea. One only has to look at nearby Bushey Park to see how quickly large private developments can be placed in a park. Hounslow has a huge amount of green space and parks to manage and has never got any additional funds to do it, so all the expense falls on the council tax. It was very generous that these huge estates were gifted to local authorities many decades ago but local authorities struggle to find the huge sums that would be needed to do them justice. This is not just a problem for Hounslow and Ealing. Chiswick park is probably the best example of where the local authority managed to bring in substantial external funding in collaboration with English Heritage in order to renovate the house and grounds. This was the model that the last administration looked towards as a way forward for Gunnesbury Park. I appreciate renovation of this park and the buildings in it, is always going to be a difficult task but do I think a little more imagination is needed to take the park forward than just filling it with an exclusive millionares housing estate. |