The plan

Crystal Palace Park Regeneration Plan aims to deliver community-led aspirations for a restored and vibrant metropolitan park, which is an asset to its surrounding communities and visitors from across the UK.

Bromley Council recognises Crystal Palace Park’s potential as a park of local, regional and national significance and is working to bring regeneration to the park to secure a more sustainable future that is enjoyed for generations to come.

The Regeneration Plan will:

  • Reinvigorate Crystal Palace Park as a contemporary and historic showcase in tune with Paxton’s vision and create a place of discovery, learning, recreation and fun
  • Develop the park’s local and regional identity and re-establish its national and international significance
  • Provide community benefits through both facilities within the park and connections to local facilities and the economy
  • Deliver a contemporary, financially and environmentally friendly, sustainable plan, securing a long term future in the park

Some of the physical works that will help achieve these outcomes are:

  • Creating a new, purpose built event space on the Lower Italian Terrace
  • Undertaking outstanding restoration to the dinosaurs and their surrounds
  • Constructing a new playground
  • Providing a new Information Centre, and a Community Centre
  • Creating new access points to the park and conserving historic ones
  • Improving pedestrian wayfinding, routes and paths
  • Implementing low energy lighting to illuminate key pedestrian routes and structures
  • Remove parking from the centre of the park and restore it as parkland

The full scheme is available to download.

Regeneration Plan

History

In March 2015, Bromley Council committed resources to bring to fruition an adapted version of the 2007 Masterplan.

The 2007 Masterplan held the original vision of rejuvenating Crystal Palace Park as a metropolitan park, heritage asset, cultural, leisure, educational and recreational resource to meet the needs of the local people and public at large.

The £67 million (the equivalent of around £80 million today) associated with the full delivery of the Masterplan has never been available, however, but it has proved a valuable framework for regeneration in the park.

The Regeneration Plan has undergone extensive refinement, public consultation, workshops and engagement with key stakeholders. It is an updated version of the Masterplan which comprises a practical and sustainable vision for Crystal Palace Park, responding to the findings and wishes of the community whilst remaining achievable within the resources available.

Where are we now?

The Regeneration Plan was granted outline planning permission in March 2023 which is important seal of confidence in the proposals.

The first phase of works of the plan completed in November 2023 with the completion of the first phase of restoration works to the Crystal Palace Subway. These works received £2.8m funding and were led by Thomas Ford & Partners and DBR Ltd.

We are now focussing on the second phase of works which will see improvements to the Italian Terraces and the Tidal Lake areas of the Park. A design team, led by HTA Design LLP, has been appointed to develop the designs for this phase. You can find out more about the scope here.

In September 2023, the Crystal Palace Park Trust assumed stewardship of the Park when they took on a 125-year lease. This historic handover marks a new phase in the life of the Park and is key to establishing a sustainable model to secure the Park’s future. As a community-led charity, the Trust will deliver site-wide improvements to benefit all park users.