Regeneration of Beckenham Place Park

Sponsor: London Borough of Lewisham group
Sponsor Liaison: Lucy Mitchell
Student Team: Christine Flores, Alicia Howell-Munson, Jack Riley, Bailey Schmidt
Abstract: To identify how Beckenham Place Park, in the London Borough of Lewisham, can encourage greater public use in the future, we created a volunteer database, conducted observational surveys, and interviewed park visitors. The database we developed provides an efficient way to organise volunteers and delegate responsibilities. Surveys and interviews revealed a positive shift in public opinion and use of the park since 2016. Despite this shift in public opinion, there are still concerns about the park’s regeneration progress. To address these concerns, we developed three primary recommendations for the Lewisham Council to take into consideration: incorporate more visual aids around BPP, supplement the visitors’ experience, and improve communications with the community surrounding BPP.
Link:

Final Report (Lewisham_Final_Report)

Final Presentation (Lewisham_Final_Presentation)

Executive Summary

Our project concerns the regeneration progress of Beckenham Place Park (BPP), and how the Lewisham Council can promote better utilization of the park in the future. To complete our project, we outlined three objectives:

1. Optimizing management of volunteers in events and activities at BPP.

2. Assessing current public use of BPP.

3. Identifying park visitors’ opinions and attitudes towards BPP.

The implementation of a volunteer database allows the Council to store volunteer data more easily and securely. The Council can effectively delegate responsibilities based on volunteer interests, as well as identify how many hours volunteers have committed to each activity. Having this new method of storing and tracking volunteer information will enable the Council to expand their volunteer efforts in BPP. Additionally, the Council can generate reports for their funders via the report feature we implemented, which will save them time and effort in years to come.

Through analysis of our observational surveys, we discovered an increase in overall use of BPP. While conducting our observational surveys, we took note of the age, ethnicity, state of being, and activity each visitor participated in when we observed them. From our observations, we concluded that visitors typically fell in the 25-49 age bracket and were often white. However, we also noticed there was an increase in minority visitors since 2016. We also discovered that families and groups utilize the park more since the previous survey. Additionally, we noted that the top two activities (dog walking and walking) and the busiest time of day (mid-afternoons) remained consistent with the 2016 data. Overall, we found that twice the number of people use the park now compared to 2016 when the golf course closed.

We conducted 100 interviews with various park visitors to gain a better understanding of where visitors lived in proximity to BPP, what they thought of the park and the regeneration, and how they wanted to see the park improved. We attempted to remain as unbiased as possible and collect a representative sample of the population surrounding BPP. Each interview averaged between ten to twenty minutes depending on how much the interviewee had to say regarding the regeneration process. After conducting the interviews, we were able to report accurately on the iv public opinion of BPP, how visitors felt about the park regeneration, and the prevalent frustrations of the Lewisham community regarding the park and the Council.

Based on our data analysis, we generated a list of recommendations that will assist the Lewisham Council during the regeneration and the years to follow. Our three main recommendations are to:

● Incorporate visual aids around BPP.

● Supplement visitor experiences.

● Improve communication with the surrounding BPP community.

 

To incorporate visual aids around BPP, we recommend:

● Implementing more maps and directions.

● Incorporating more posters at renovation sites.

 

To supplement visitor experiences, we recommend:

● Providing more events and activities.

● Increasing awareness of the mansion.

● Improving park maintenance.

● Incorporating dog amenities and regulations.

● Improving safety measures.

 

To improve communication, we recommend:

● Increasing awareness of renovation plans.

● Expanding advertisement for events and activities.

Our project provides the Lewisham Council with the necessary information to improve upon the ongoing regeneration process at BPP. The Beckenham Place Mansion is a Grade II* historic building; the Council would need approximately £5,000,000 to properly restore the mansion. The data we collected yields a strong foundation for the Council to develop a funding bid for the regeneration of the mansion. We hope that the data and analysis we have supplied, along with the database we created, will help expand the volunteering efforts within BPP and encourage greater public use of the park in the future.