The Park and Pavilion (Zone P) Reserved Matters Application submitted - opportunity to share your comments with Southwark Council

We have submitted a Reserved Matters Application (RMA) to Southwark Council for a new Park and Pavilion located next to the Printworks building.

The application has now been validated by Southwark Council, which is holding a 21-day statutory consultation between 1 February and 22 February 2023. During this time, you can view all the planning documents and provide a formal comment directly to Southwark Council for its consideration in its determination of the planning application.

You can find all the application documents and make a formal comment by visiting Southwark Council’s Planning Register here and using the case reference number 23/AP/0233.

About the Park and Pavilion

The application is for a brand new 3.5-acre park as well as a Pavilion building with space for a café and public toilets. The Park will be connected into the 160+ acres of parks and woodlands in the local area such as Russia Dock Woodland and Southwark Park through a series of green pedestrian routes and public spaces that run through the Masterplan.

IMAGE: Illustrative overview of the new Park.

The Park will comprise five character areas, including a woodland, a meadow, a dry garden planted with drought-resistant plants, an open lawn and a shaded area. In combination, these areas will boost local biodiversity and provide safe and attractive environments for local wildlife. As part of the design process, we met with local ecology groups and explored how our planting strategy can support the existing wildlife within Canada Water and create new habitats within the Park that are attractive to those species.

  IMAGE: Illustrative view of the play space

IMAGE: Illustrative view of the Park Pavilion.     

There will be an air vent serving the basement car park of Zone G with improved air quality, which has been designed as a sculpture for the Park.

An inclusive Adventure Play space will appeal to a variety of user groups and to make people of all abilities feel welcome.

The Pavilion includes a café space offering visitors the opportunity to relax and socialise with indoor and outdoor seating. Activities such as chess, dominoes and table tennis will encourage learning, as well as fun and healthy activities suitable for all generations and all abilities. There are also plans for a Horticultural Learning Garden where people can learn about the wildlife and biodiversity within the Park, as well as providing education space for local community groups.

How we developed the plans with your help

The outline planning permission for the Canada Water Masterplan established the conditions within which the Park and Pavilion (Development Zone P) can be developed. This RMA has been created in adherence with these approved conditions, seeking approval for the proposed appearance, layout, use, scale, and landscaping of the Park, Pavilion building and surrounding area.

To help inform the vision for the Park and the Pavilion, we shared the emerging proposals during the summer with local specialist groups during one-to-one meetings, alongside local people at a public drop-in session on Thursday 28 July. Following this the project team developed the detailed designs and these were shared in a virtual public exhibition between 17 and 31 October and at two in-person events at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre on 19 and 22 October. We would like to thank everyone who got involved and helped to shape the proposals.

A full Statement of Community Involvement has been produced summarising the activities and comments received, which is available on Southwark Council’s planning register (see above for how to search for this application).

For more details about the Park and Pavilion proposals, please visit the downloads section on our website, where you can find the information boards from the virtual exhibition that was held earlier in the Autumn. More information on the Park and Pavilion can also be found in Section 7.6 of our FAQs.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any points in relation to the news above, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing [email protected] or calling 0800 470 4593 (freephone).