Help Choose New Design for Coronation Gardens Play Area


Council offering three options for Southfields facility

One of the design options for the new playground
One of the design options for the new playground

April 21, 2023

The playground in Coronation Gardens in Southfields is set to benefit from new funding and the council wants to hear the views of local people on how the money should be spent.

Coronation Gardens dates back to 1902 and commemorates the coronation of King Edward VII in August 1902. It was donated to the people of Wandsworth by Sir William Lancaster, a businessman, philanthropist and politician who served as the second Mayor of Wandsworth between 1901 and 1902 and who also co-founded the Putney School of Art and Design.

Families in the area are being asked to take part in an online consultation that will select the best design for the revamp.

There are three designs to choose from which have been created following feedback from an earlier round of public consultation.

To view the designs and deliver their feedback, people should click here.

In total £143,000 has been set aside for the playground’s refurbishment, with a further £30,000 allocated for biodiversity improvements in and around the play area.

Coronation Gardens not long after it was opened - with Riversdale Primary School in the background
Coronation Gardens not long after it was opened - with Riversdale Primary School in the background

Judi Gasser, Cabinet Member for Environment, said, “We hope parents and children who live nearby and use this play area will have a look at these exciting designs and tell us which one they like best.

“Last summer’s initial consultation helped us to better understand what local residents think of the existing playground and how they felt it could be improved. Their feedback was really important in helping us create these three distinctive new designs and layouts for this popular community space.

“I’m delighted too that part of the project also involves an opportunity to encourage wildlife through improved biodiversity planting.”

Residents who would prefer to fill in a paper copy of the questionnaire can email parks@enablelc.org or phone (020) 3959 0060. The consultation closes on 17 May.

There will also be two drop-in sessions at Coronation Gardens where questions can be posed face-to -face with staff from the council’s leisure and culture contractor Enable. These information sessions will be held between 2pm and 5pm on Thursday, April 27 and between those times again on Thursday, 11 May.

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