Sir Simon Jenkins, the author and Kensington resident has come up with a dynamic proposal to revitalise the area surrounding St Mary Abbotts.
As they could be..... warm and welcoming
A proposal is put forward today to revitalise the setting of Kensington’s parish church, St Mary Abbots.
It would remove railings and open up open space around the church and create a new pocket park, Vestry Gardens, in the churchyard behind it. The effect would be to create a new piazza and visual focus at the foot of Kensington Church Street, bringing the church into greater prominence at the heart of the old village. It would also double the amount of open grass and public space round Kensington Church Walk, much of it little used at present.
The proposal prepared by urban designers Publica and is the initiative of local resident, the author, Simon Jenkins, and supported by others living in the neighbourhood.
‘The church needs to be freed from its hostile cage of railings,’ says Jenkins, ‘and the gardens from a forest of dark vegetation and yet more railings. This is the last historic vestry enclave in London and should be celebrated as such. There is room for more open space and play areas, as well as for café tables and stalls.’
The proposal is being submitted to the church, school, neighbours and local council for their consideration.
Jenkins has undertaken to help raise money for the scheme should any progress be made with it.
If anyone wants to know more or contact Simon Jenkins please drop the Dame an email and she will provide his contact details: dameathome@gmail.com
A brilliant idea to revive these spaces and bring together all the disparate elements of land around the church - creating a sanctuary for residents and visitors - bravo Simon !
ReplyDeleteThis is an initiative that should be welcomed by all of us. I hardly knew it existed
ReplyDeleteSimon Jenkins is a great champion of Kensington and a resident. And also a person of common sense and perception who is passionate about our built environment. I walk the St Mary Abbotts Park most days and his suggestion sounds interesting. Most of all I like the philanthropic gesture of raising the money privately instead of splurging Council Tax. This is the great Victorian tradition
ReplyDeleteWell - this is not a new idea. When the old Town Hall was demolished, there was a proposal to re-align the path from its central position to run up the school's boundary, thus unifying the two gardens into one coherent space.
ReplyDeleteIt was vetoed by the Council because one Councillor suggested paedophiles on the new path could offer sweeties to the children in the playground. A 2 minute discussion. Such is the level of decision making in the Council.
One of my pet projects was to re-open up a door in the wall through to Hornton Place (the bricked up remains of the original one can be seen), thus forming a processional route from the Town Hall to the Church.
This could be incorporated in the above proposal.
Do you want to discuss your interesting idea with Simon Jenkins?
DeleteWhy not - but there is not much more to be said than the above!
DeleteRoger please send the Dame your email dameathome@gmail.com
DeleteIt will take years to get all the stakeholders to agree. This is something called "change". Not a great strength in the Royal Borough. And of course, ultimately, planning permission will have to be granted by the Council. Officers have created jobs for themselves by monopolising all of the huge Council Tax expenditure on parks. If private expenditure is allowed to muscle in this will threaten their positions. Expect a big "no".
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent initiative, as is the micro park in Pont St. paid for by Cadogan. But could we not balance it with equal generosity towards the less well heeled parts of the borough ,namely the area around Grenfell Tower and the Golborne & Colville wards where greenery is noticeably lacking? ( What happened to Ian Henderson's aspirations to clad the Westway with greenery ? ) The greening of the borough is a noble aspiration but lets 'level up the North as well ' as someone used to say .
ReplyDeleteBefore you get carried away Mr 11.57, lets try and get some private money to pay for your "levelling up" and not splurge more Council Tax on fringe activities. The world needs priorities
DeleteSimon Jenkins is an inspired guy but he needs to understand the treacle that he will encounter with this great idea. At the end of the day (and it will be a very long day of trying to find consensus from the St Mary Abbots stakeholders) the idea will go to the Council (Councillors and Officers) for permission to proceed.
ReplyDeleteThe duo of Councillors and Officers love playing with their train sets. And the two biggest train sets are the schools and the parks of RBKC. Outsiders who tamper with these ego boosting and Officer job creation activities do so at their peril. No, no, no will be the outcome.
Simon Jenkins needs to go into this with his eyes wide open. He needs to consult with seasoned campaigners like Justin Downes, Ian Henderson and Donald Cameron. And his first lobby activity should be to approach the Leader of the Council NOW, get her support, and announce this to the press.
The secret of taking on City Hall is in two parts:
(i) move fast so that the reptiles do not have the chance to put up barriers
(ii) do something new so that there are no precedents to wreck the initiative.
Good luck Simon Jenkins!
Observer is on the button. Taking on the monopoly Council will be no walk in the park. The dinosaurs and beached whales will thrash around and do enormous damage to protect their turf.
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