Bishops Park set for revamp

by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
04/06/2008

Exciting plans for Bishops Park

Plans to spruce up Bishops Park and the grounds of Fulham Palace have been backed to the tune of £2 million by the council.

And H&F is due to hear in September if it has been successful in winning a £4 million grant for the scheme from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Parks for People programme.

With the council’s ParkLife campaign now well under way, there has never been a better time to visit your local park and Bishops Park is just one of many in the borough that is set to be refurbished over the coming months and years.

Cllr Paul Bristow, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, said: "It is going to be an exciting few months for the borough’s parks and ParkLife will inform residents of the multitude of breathtaking plans that are on the horizon. We are very fortunate to have well-used and popular parks and open spaces in H&F and we are proud that they attract so many visitors."

The council has already consulted residents over its plans for Bishops Park. Feedback from a public open day in November showed that 90 per cent of residents who spoke to the council were pleased with the proposals.

In Bishops Park the council intends to restore the lake, pond, balustrade and Fulham Beach, which hark back to Victorian times. The pitch and putt golf course will return, the outdoor play area will move to another part of the park and an interactive water play feature will be built on the site of the former bandstand. The café building will be refurbished with new toilet blocks and an extension serving as a community room and bowls club.

Cllr Bristow added: "Our residents have been at the heart of this project and our plans reflect what they have told us. We look forward to hearing from the Heritage Lottery Fund later this year and can’t wait to get started with the work."

At Fulham Palace, there are plans to restore and extend the stable block for proposed shop use and education activities, bring back the vinery and herb garden, restore the bothy, reinstate a section of the moat and renovate the Gothic Lodge as the head gardener’s cottage.

If the Heritage Lottery Fund bid is successful, detailed designs will be developed and submitted for approval with the work due to start in 2010.

Parks and grounds maintenance in Hammersmith &Fulham has now been contracted out to Quadron Services. Quadron are specialist grounds maintenance providers and have a proven track record in delivering improvements to parks, open spaces and housing areas. They also provide services to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, and Southwark Council.