Crystal Palace Park is not your typical park. The regeneration plan recognises this and seeks to provide an outstanding modern park for neighbouring communities while reinstating its importance as a site of national and international historical significance. Find out more about the full scope of ambition here.
Image above: Palaeotherium magnum, an extinct mammal distantly related to horses. Supported by Crystal Palace Park Trust.
Aims of the regeneration plan
- To reinvigorate Crystal Palace Park as a contemporary and historic showcase in tune with Paxton’s vision and create a place of discovery, learning recreation and fun
- To develop the park’s local and regional identity, and re-establish its national and international significance
- To provide community benefits through both facilities within the park and connections to local facilities and the economy
- To deliver a contemporary, financially and environmentally friendly, sustainable plan, securing the long-term future of the park
The park's current journey towards restoration and revitalisation started in March 2015, when Bromley Council committed resources to create an ambitious but deliverable park-wide regeneration plan as an updated version of the 2007 Masterplan.
The resulting strategy included three interlinked plans:
- The physical regeneration of the park
- A new and sustainable business model
- A new form of governance for the park that provides the right resources and expertise to manage a regional park with national significance.
The physical regeneration plan was developed by AECOM, with extensive community consultation.
Copies of the Public Information Boards depicting the scope of the plans which were produced for the consultations can be viewed here.
The guiding priorities for the scheme are to:
- Repair and improve infrastructure throughout the park
- Conserve and interpret historic assets in the park
- Reconnect and open up the Grande Centre Walk/ Paxton Axis through the park
- Restore the architectural presence and grandeur of the terraces
In tandem to the development of the physical regeneration plans, a community-led Shadow Board was formed by members of existing local groups that had been campaigning for many decades for a new way forward for the park.
In time, the Shadow Board developed into Crystal Palace Park Trust, an independent custodian with the expertise and resources to manage the park on a day-to-day basis while delivering the new governance and business model for the park. The Trust was registered as a charity in 2021 and took over full responsibility for the park on 15 September 2023 via a 125-year head lease.
Today, a number of elements of the physical regeneration plan have already been completed including the delivery of a new park cafe, the skatepark, and the award-winning restoration of the Crystal Palace Subway.
The Trust and Bromley Council are now focused on delivering the largest and most complex phase of works which will see improvements to the Italian Terraces and Tidal Lake areas of the Park. The design has been led by HTA Design LLP, with full planning permission secured in June 2024. Construction started onsite in May 2025.
