Croydon's parks and open spaces are
managed - as with many local authorities - by idVerde, an international company
specialising in ground maintenance. The Council resolved in 2017 to overhaul
its approach to these areas to accent community outdoor activity and fitness
training. The Parks Department loses most of its specialist staff, and is
subsumed in Leisure Pursuits. A consultancy firm is researching how to effect
this change. The Friends of Farthing Downs sets out in this paper to the
Council, its view on how Happy Valley is best managed to sustain its unique
character.
THE FUTURE OF HAPPY
VALLEY
Perspective by Friends
of Farthing Downs
Whats in a name
Croydon
Council gave the name 'Happy Valley Park' to the area between Farthing Downs and
Coulsdon Common, in 1970, soon after the London Borough was formed. Places as
far apart as Oregon, Hongkong and New Mexico also rejoice in this name. But
'Park' is wholly inadequate when applied now to the Valley in Coulsdon. In
looking to the future of its parks, Croydon must see Happy Valley as unique ?
its scale and diversity unmatched. Planning has therefore to be done separately
and distinctively. Health and safety issues not least may well differ markedly
from that in conventional parks.
Along with
37 locations in Greater London, Happy Valley is a site of special scientific
interest (SSSI); along with Croham Hurst and Riddlesdown. 27 of the sites are
much smaller than Happy Valley. The four largest are Epping Forest, Richmond
Park, Thames Marshes and Bushey Park. Happy Valley's varied geology,
geomorphology, ancient woodland and wild flower rich chalk grassland makes for
a diversity greater than even these major places. There are also 144 nature
reserves in Greater London, five of them in Croydon (South Norwood Country
Park, Bromley Park, Foxley Wood, Hutchinsons Bank and Selsdon Wood (the largest
at 79 ha). Curiously Happy Valley is not counted among them. A plan for Happy
Valley has to be conscious both of legal constraints, and the opportunities afforded
by its status as an SSSI and site of conservation importance. Happy Valley has
received major awards over the years since 2001, including the Green Flag
special award for innovation in 2016. All indicate that Happy Valley is a very
special place quite unlike Croydon's parks and itsother open spaces. This paper
sets out the Friends' views on planning the way forward.
CONTENTS
Context
Public open
spaces across Britain are under scrutiny. Croydon is no exception. The chair of
the Heritage Lottery Fund writes ?all is not well with the UK's public parks ?
many face an uncertain future?. Its 2014 Report State of UK public parks says the park ?going public are fairly or
very concerned about impending budget cuts ? especially where a park is already
in poor condition or where there are many children under ten. CPRE London's
chairman says in Green London, Summer
2017 ?cuts to local authority budgets are having a profound effect on most
services?, and while ?the effect on parks has been more gradual ? budget cuts
are real and increasing?.
Local
authorities ? Croydon included - are reviewing commitments not only to make
council tax go further, but reassessing the relevance of local parks and green
spaces for a very different era from when many were first planned. Most
peoples' scope for travel has changed markedly; leisure pursuits have
multiplied; smart phones have widened horizons; and tastes have changed. Value
has now to be assessed in new ways; not least in who can best shoulder responsibility
for managing and sustaining open spaces. This is the context for looking
circumspectly at Happy Valley (see Fig. 1), and offering views to the Council,
as well as familiarising the community with what Happy Valley offers.
Background
Happy Valley
is the remarkably diverse stretch of landscape between Farthing Downs and
Coulsdon Common (see Fig. 2). The downs and the common were purchased by the
City of London in the 1880s to keep them forever open for Londoners to enjoy
(see Figs. 3 and 4). With city suburbs spreading ever more closely after WWI ,
London County Council sponsored a Green Belt Act (1938) to enable itself and
other local authorities to buy much other land also, to spare it from
development. Purley and Coulsdon UDC bought the Valley in this spirit to
prevent Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon and Caterham , encroaching on it ? Chaldon Way
in the 30s being a warning sign of what could happen (see Fig. 5). Further
legislation in the 50s entrenched green belt protection ever more tightly and
widely (see Fig. 6).
The Valley
has a character distinct from the downs and the common ? in fact, several
characters, dictated by varied local geology, steep sides carved in the ice
age, and vegetation and wildlife that make it unique in Britain. Termed 'happy
valley park' by Croydon in 1970, this misnomer was soon abandoned. The area in
fact defies labelling ? that's part of its attraction. Warden Dominic North has
described in fair detail, in a recent article, Happy Valley's history and
extraordinary flora and fauna (see attached).
Managing Happy Valley
Croydon
contracts management of Happy Valley to idVerde. This is an international
company operating in both France and the UK. Originally a forestry company it
expanded into landscape design and management and in the last two decades has
taken over The Landscape Group and Quadron, and has a workforce of 4,000. The
nearest office is in Bromley. A plan at this juncture for Happy Valley in
Croydon's Ambitions for Parks programme should include its overall management,
in the view of the Friends.
Croydon
Council is now making significant changes to its Parks Department. Staffing is
being cut. It appears likely that continuing responsibilities for parks and
open spaces will lie with an active lifestyles team to place more accent on
health initiatives, including sport and physical activity.
The Friends
have no responsibility for managing Happy Valley nor the finance of this.
Drawing the community in to directly manage the area would be very difficult.
Croydon's parks and other open spaces tend to be at the centre of their local
community ? planned that way. People see the parks as theirs. Streatham Common
now has a local trust to directly manage it. It is a Co-operative run social
enterprise managing since 2015 service from gardening to litter picking. Grange
Park in Coulsdon hosts an annual fair for the community which creates a feeling
of 'ownership'. Happy Valley in contrast is isolated ? relatively. While an
annual event might help publicise Happy Valley, with few residents nearby it
would take much organising. And it would not make money sufficient to help the
tasks the Warden faces. The Friends have this view having had experience trying
to organise an annual event on Farthing Downs.
Current Care for Happy Valley
Important
elements of care and protection came from legislation (see Fig. 7). As well as
being designated green belt in 1938, Happy Valley contains an Archaeological
priority zone in Devilsden Wood (designated in 1975), and over half the whole
valley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest; this and a modest extension to
the east ranks also as a Site of Nature Conservation Importance (designated
1975). Being within Greater London the Valley is also ranked as a Site of
Metropolitan Nature Importance (SMNI), sometimes expressed as a Site of
Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). Maintaining the character and
appearance of the whole valley clearly justifies regular appraisal and a
constant maintenance programme ? when neglected as after WWII scrub invaded
with loss of important elements of habitat . The native chalk grassland
required drastic surgery.
In the view of the Friends a plan to
care for Happy Valley for the future has to consider the following ? the public
use of the Valley; the provision of facilities for the Warden; engagement with
schools; volunteer manpower, play and exercise, information supply, signposting
and access, and resource management.
The Friends suggest:
1.
Public use of the Valley Our impression is that this has
declined as recreational opportunities elsewhere - near and far ? have
increased. There is no hard statistical data to confirm this. However in the
1920s a 'tea rooms' on the Downs (see Fig. 6) could seat 1,000 people and three
charabanc routes served the site. By the 70's the tea service was much reduced,
though a set of swingboats attracted lots of young families for several years.
Friends' attempts to attract a mobile tea service (to the Downs) has not
succeeded ? takers are too few ? except on hot days. Prime use of the Valley
today is for rambling, dog walking, cycling and horse riding (five miles of
bridlepaths), and on summer weekends visits by young families perhaps with
picnics. The nature of the whole Valley indicates these will remain main uses,
All are important parts of the 'health agenda' which governments want to see
grow. Hearsay indicates numbers of people living close by are still unaware of
what the Valley offers!
2.
The base for the Warden Until 2013 the Warden shared the
Barn with the City of London' Rangers, very close to the Valley, and with all
modern facilities. He is now a mile away in a cramped section of the changing
rooms at Grange Park. We think this hiatus encourages joy riding and other
misbehaviour that is a growing night time feature. A priority must surely be
suitable accommodation close to the Valley. If volunteer recruitment now is to
be seen as increasingly more important to help sustain the habitat of the
Valley, storage space will be needed for tools and other supplies. Money must
be found to do all this.
A base closer to the Valley could also act as an information point with a
permanent display of literature and other matter: a drop in centre or
one-stop-shop. A new community centre scheduled for the Tollers Estate could
help, as perhaps could The Fox.
3.
Engaging with schools Engagement perhaps at three
levels: teaching young people to respect the local rural setting; learning more
systematically about ecology and wildlife; and fieldwork to experience things
first-hand. All require aptitude, skill, and sustained commitment from tutors,
and formal agreement with the schools. All three were regular features of
community involvement in Happy Valley in past times ? for example, via the
Tollers Design Centre which ran summer and spring school holiday courses,
basing art and craft activities on the animals, plants, trees and insects,
observed in the Valley. The Centre continues to use the local landscape in its
drawing and painting classes. Happy Valley once had three wardens. The present
warden is stretched to offer more time ? beyond what he is doing for instance
at Trinity and Hawthorn and in 'the great green yonder' programme with North
Croydon schools. There are four secondary schools within a mile of Happy Valley
(five if Woocote High is included), and ten junior schools. - Oasis Academy,
Coulsdon College, de Stafford, Clifton Hill; and Sunnydown, Keston, Oasis
Academy Byron, Smitham, St. Andrews, Coulsdon C of E Primary, Audley, St. Peter
& St. Paul, St. Francis, and Hillcroft. More systematic involvement with
schools - desirable as that is ? will require significant commitment of time
and resources. Scope for this has to come directly from the schools, as part of
the curriculum, as much as from the Warden and the Friends; and from the Parks
and the Education Services.
4.
Volunteer manpower Commitment by individuals and a
number of corporate/local businesses to clear ditches and hedgerows, lay
fencing, clear scrub including ragwort, are vital, important and enduring
features at Farthing Downs, New Hill, and Happy Valley. City of London regular
on-line Newsletters highlight these significant contributions. At Happy Valley
there are also volunteer shepherds for the dozen or so penned grazing sheep,
dormice and grassland monitoring volunteers, and help by a local farmer in
mowing the valley floor for hay. Alongside run major contributions by The
Conservation Volunteers (TCV) with finance provided through Higher Level
Stewardship and the English Woodland Trust. Croydon Council see the present
study of its parks by Tyrens as leading to a plan. Such a plan for Happy Valley
needs systematically to update the Warden's existing sector by sector study in
the light of currently available manpower and financial resources - with the
aim of clarifying what additional help is desirable to sustain the Valley.
5.
Play and exercise Until recently, a ?trim trail? of
exercise bars lined the path between the Fox and the entrance to Happy Valley.
They became damaged and were removed. There is a case for providing robust
exercise facilities for teenagers and older people and this site is well
placed. There are no outdoor facilities for teenagers in Coulsdon beyond that
in Marlpit Lane park. It would help interest people to visit the Valley,
without being intrusive. Exercise equipment is compatible with this site's
green belt status.
No place is set aside in the Valley as a play area for younger children. To
provide one could be contentious. There may be scope however for creating a
climbing frame out of redundant timber from the woods, on the Valley floor. It
could create a focal point for family picnics, without spoiling the character
of this section of Happy Valley. As 'capital' projects, both these could well
attract sponsorship.
6.
Information supply A free leaflet supported by
Natural England and issued by the Council describes in eyecatching detail the
many qualities of Happy Valley (compiled by Madeleine Smith and Dominic North).
Built into it are two maps: one outlining the varied character of the Valley;
the other connects the Valley to the transport network. A second handsome and
more extended free leaflet, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and issued
jointly by seven organisations is intended to help people get involved in
understanding and conserving the chalk downs within London's southern border.
Currently however there are no places locally where this publicity material can
be picked up (compare also Fig. 8 fixed to local notice boards near Farthing Downs).
There is also the excellent Happy Valley
and Farthing Downs Nature Trail booklet. The Valley features too in the
Council's Green Croydon, and in Visit the Chalk (by the Old Surrey Downs
Project). It features too in Coulsdon
Area the detailed booklet prepared as a Millenium Project. Happy Valley
also features in the Downlands Project.
It is also in Coulsdon Common and Happy
Valley ? part of the Coulsdon Common circular walk issued by the City of
London. A leaflet North Downs Way
traces the Pilgrims Way along the whole area from Farnham to Dover. A number of
these publications however are no longer in stock, or available locally.
7.
Signposting and access Farthing Downs and Coulsdon
Common like other City of London spaces have distinctive and prominent identification
Boards in key situations ? Happy Valley does not. Its outer boundary of nearly
four miles ? much is adjacent to highways ? has only one lamp post sign near
The Fox indicating that a distinctive landscape lies beyond. Three notice
boards displaying helpful information about the Valley are in position just
inside walkways at The Fox, Drive Road, and the Barn. Within the Valley however the visitor finds many local directional signposts, and seating.
Googling the internet also provides much information about Happy Valley.
In terms of helping notify people some distance away, the Friends gained
consent from Southern Rail in 2016 to place very large photographs featuring
Happy Valley in the Booking Hall at Coulsdon South Station. Permission has also
been received to hang ?For Farthing Downs and Happy Valley? below the station's
platform signs. A large poster showing the way to the Valley is on Platform
Two. The Friends' website contains much directional information, though more
could perhaps be done to draw public attention to where Happy Valley is. The
Friends produced the leaflet 'Valuing your local environment' (see attached)
which is available in the station booking hall.
Access by car to Happy Valley is at The Fox and opposite Farthing Downs car
park. At The Fox parking is 24 hours, and results in fly tipping, vehicle
abandonment and burning. And produces a significant amount of dropped rubbish.
These parking places however seem more than adequate given present usage of the
Valley. The only other access points by roadway are at The Grove, Drive Road
and the Tollers Estate ? all fairly close together given the Valley's boundary
being some four miles in length.
8.
Resource management Croydon's Plan for Parks should
include an assessment of Happy Valley's experience under idVerde, the level of
resources and management support offered around all the tasks at Happy Valley;
the leverage that idVerde can exercise on sponsorship and new project funding;
and whether its present brief continues to be robust. A key part of this
important exercise should be to determine whether the Warden requires
additional manpower - perhaps provided by in-service training or other
recruitment - as part of refocusing this key role for the period ahead. Merrist
Wood College is well placed to help provide training.
KEY ELEMENTS OF AN ACTION PLAN FOR
HAPPY VALLEY
In summary
the Friends suggest a plan at this juncture for Happy Valley should encompass
these five sections:
1.
The
duty of care for Happy Valley
2.
The
components subject to planning.
3.
Resource
allocations required given its unique status
4.
Involving
and relating to the surrounding community
5.
The
required management framework
The Friends
The Friends was set up following
successful efforts to raise funds to purchase Woodplace Fields enabling the
City of London to preserve and then to the open space of Farthing Downs. The
purpose of the Friends is to champion knowledge of, and care for, Farthing
Downs and Happy Valley in support of the Rangers and the Warden. This voluntary
organisation was formed in 2005 as 'The Friends of Farthing Downs', with a
constitution, a committee, annual accounts, and an AGM. It arranges an annual
programme of talks and walks, fundraises for specific purposes, and speakers at
the last three AGMs have been the Director of Open Spaces for City of London
(Sue Ireland); Chair of the Surrey Hills Society (Christine Howard); and the
Warden of Happy Valley (Dominic North). A number of colourful information
leaflets have been published, and the Friends funded the self-guided booklet
called The Happy Valley and Farthing
Downs Nature Trail. The Friends want to see this important landscape
protected, understood, and more widely known and used. The Friends
comprehensive website is at www, friendsoffarthingdowns.co.uk which includes
the QR codes. The paper has the full support of The Friends of Farthing Downs.
(A first draft was prepared by The Friends' Chairman Dr. Graham Lomas).
July 2017
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