Crystal Palace Local

It really doesn't matter how much the masterplan is going to cost because it is never going to happen anyway, It's rather like discussing what colour dress your daughter wants for christmas when you don't have the money to buy her one anyway! The five year, five million pound consultation process which used local groups to rubber stamp a pre conceived plan, culminated in the attendees of the public consultation event being offered a deal. The deal was this. We will give you a brand new sports centre, give you 33 more accessible acres of parkland, remove oodles of horrible concrete, facilitate a new museum and tree top walk and implement all kinds of exciting ecologically sustainable elements including solar power, grey water usage and energy plant In return for you accepting that we can sell off some of the pand within the park perimiter for housing. The present masterplan bears no resemblance to the one in the deal, except of course for the housing. Where is the new sports centre or the tree top walk? What happened to the sustainability elements? The one thing that will probably will go ahead is the tree palace on the top site. Two interesting things about the tree palace a) It was unpopular in the consultation process and yet appeared on the masterplan anyway and b) although in the masterplan it is described as a tree palace with fountain and boulevard, in fact the trees will disguise a tar and chipped car park that ouncil will need for events. .