New public gardens are to be created in Deptford in a bid to improve Lewisham residents' access to green spaces in the borough.
It will be in the areas of Sayes Court and Prince Street following community consultation in 2022.
The consultation identified “under-utilised” green spaces in these areas that the community were keen to revive them as play spaces and community gardens.
The gardens are being created in a joint effort between the National Trust and Lewisham Council, along with other Lewisham community partners.
The project has received £70,000 in funding, with £30,000 of NCL funding from Lewisham Council and a £40,000 grant from the Mayor of London’s Green and Resilient Spaces Fund (GRSF).
The additional funding from City Hall will aid National Trust and its assisting project partners to develop designs to improve the existing green spaces within these areas.
Shirley Rodrigues, London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, said: “Everyone deserves the chance to enjoy nature in their community and Greening Evelyn is a great example of this.
“The Mayor’s Green and Resilient Space Fund is making a big difference to communities across the capital, and Lewisham residents will hugely benefit from new and improved green spaces and play areas.
“Not only is providing access to green spaces vital for health and wellbeing, but it also helps us to reduce our climate impact, clean up our air and deliver a greener, healthier and fairer city for all.”
The creation of the gardens comes as part of Lewisham’s “Greening Evelyn” initiative to create Lewisham’s first Garden Ward to promote the environment and nature in the community.
Jim Foy, the National Trust’s Assistant Director of Operations for London and the South East, said: “We are delighted that Greening Evelyn has received this additional funding from the Mayor of London’s Green and Resilient Spaces fund.
“We look forward to working with residents to bring about a real change in people’s access to nature and green spaces in their neighbourhood, an exciting prospect.”
The initiative, developed from research carried out by WonKy Architecture for the National Trust and local partners, will aim to create a network of “biodiverse” and “climate resilient” green spaces for Lewisham’s residents.
Lewisham Council has said that it will do this by working with the Lewisham community to create new spaces, while also making existing ones greener and more accessible.
Cllr Louise Krupski, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate at Lewisham Council, said: “This is such an exciting project for Evelyn ward, working with our partners and residents to open up our green spaces and increase their use.
“Helping people connect with nature is so important for people’s health and wellbeing. I’d like to thank our partners for their hard work in bidding for and achieving funding from the Mayor of London.
“NCIL funding is designed to mitigate the effects of development and I can’t think of a better way to spend this money which was applied for by DeptfordFolk and the National Trust and granted by the Council.”
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