A bit more cash needed to realise the true potential of Wanstead Park and Epping Forest

There has been much happening in Wanstead Park recently, with the successful introduction of the long horn cows grazing, the area opened up to cycling, new sign posts and the exciting Thames 21 developments along the Roding. More is on the way with proposals for the park to get some Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space (SANGS) funding via Redbridge Council that will enable more work to be done around improving accesses to the park and the area around the exchange lands. It seems things have come a long way over the past 20 years. At the turn of the century, the custodians of the park, the City of London Corporation (CLC), seemed less willing to engage with the local population. I was part of a group called the Wanstead Park Community Project (WPCP), the forerunner to the Friends of Wanstead Park (FWP). The group was made up of historians, archaelogists, environmentalists, journalists and film makers. Much of the work was about bringing the past and present life of the park to public notice. Filmaker Stuart Monro was a driving force in setting up WPCP. Stuart also made a number of DVDs about different aspects of the park. Some of these are still on sale at various places around Wanstead. There was also a booklet about the park. Sadly, Stuart died in 2017 but his work was taken forward. The WPCP and then the FWP took forward concerns over things like the state of the lakes in the park. The park was put on English Heritage’s at risk register in 2009, due to the state of the lakes. It remains on that register today. But things have been moving forward, with some of the developments mentioned earlier. There has also been the excellent ongoing work of the Wren Group, whose members are regularly doing voluntary work around the park. Volunteers helped with the introduction of the cows, effectively watching over the cattle, whilst informing the public about what was going on. The FWP also do much in the park. They raised funds, which helped with the provision of the recent signposts and information boards. All of that said, there is a growing concern that a whole number of stakeholders from the volunteers of the Wren Group and FWP to Redbridge Council and Thames 21 seem to be contributing in different ways but what about the Corporation of London itself? Recently, the Environment Agency were insisting that statutory works needed doing in the form of a flood prevention plan for the park. Some £10 million was committed for the work before that need was reduced down to nearer the thousands so what happened to the rest of it? Neither it would seem are the funding shortages limited to Wanstead Park. The Epping Forest Heritage Trust (EPHT) has called on the City of London Corporation to “invest more in protecting and conserving the forest for people to enjoy now and for generations to come.” The EFHT highlight a 19% cut £1.66 Million) in the budget for the [Epping] forest from the previous year (2020/21). There has been a 40% cut in the budget over the past 10 years. “Extra funding is essential for tree, path and pond maintenance, as well as vital for habitat management to protect the Forest’s biodiversity,” said Peter Lewis, chief executive officer of the EFHT. “We all understand more than ever the importance of the Epping Forest to the people of London and Essex, as well as the Forest’s importance in terms of biodiversity, heritage and climate change. As we come out of the pandemic, we call on the Corporation to follow the visionary example of their predecessors and invest now in the future of the Forest for the good of us all, and for the good of our planet.” Let’s hope the City of London Corporation heed these words. It is a very rich organisation, which surely could afford to put a bit more into this vital ecological infrastructure stretching from East London out into Essex. It is a much-loved space, which just needs a bit more cash put in to help develop its fantastic potential.