Where are we now?
Rail
Access to the Regional Park via rail varies in quality.
The London Liverpool Street to Cambridge rail line,
operated by National Express East Anglia (NEEA),
follows the western boundary of the Park. With five or
more trains per hour this provides good links to Stratford
and central London, as well as locations further afield
including Hertford, Cambridge, and the east of England.
The eastern side of the Park is less well served by rail.
Only Roydon Station, provides a suitable entry, with two
trains stopping every hour.
In spite of improvements to directional signage, access
from many of these rail stations to the Park can be
uninviting and confusing. Proposals are being discussed
to expand parts of the NEEA route from two to four
tracks, in order to improve frequency of trains, capacity
and ease congestion.
The south of the valley is traversed by a number of
additional lines, with services provided by other train
operating companies, London Underground and the
Docklands Light Railway. These rail and tube lines
provide important services to the Park for the wider
London region, yet many of the stations lie some
distance from the Park’s boundaries, and in spite of
signage, entry to the Park is often difficult to locate
especially for the visitor new to the area.
It is anticipated that the development of Stratford
International close to the Park, as well as improvements
to public transport from the legacy of the Olympics,
will help reconnect the southern part of the Park with
neighbouring areas and the wider region. In addition,
the development of Cross Rail represents a unique
opportunity to increase access to the Park from across
London and Essex.
Bus
An extensive but complicated bus network exists within
the Park and surrounding region. Most of the Park’s
facilities are accessible by one or more bus services,
although bus stops are not always located in close
proximity to all facilities.
Car
The majority of visitors travel to the Regional Park by
car (2008/9 data revealed 64.2% / 2,825,029 people
came by car). Road access to the Regional Park is
reasonable, although journey times vary considerably
due to local road conditions, congestion, and whether a
busy commuter route is used (e.g. the A10, M25, A104).
Foot
Most of the Park is surrounded by urban areas, where
existing streets provide a good network of routes for
moving around on foot. Unfortunately, access into the Park
from the surrounding streets is in many areas restricted
by barriers such as major roads, rail lines, waterways,
industrial areas and private land. These barriers mean that
for much of the Park, entry points are limited and there is
often some distance between entrances.
The more rural areas to the north of the Park are well
connected to an extensive public right of way network,
although in many areas there is still some distance
separating each entry point into the Park.
There are a number of strategic walking routes crossing
the Park, including the Lee Valley Walk, the Lea Valley
Pathway, the London Loop and the Capital Ring.
Cycling
The established cycle network provides good
connections into the Park from the south. From the
north, cycle networks are less well established and
opportunities to cycle into the Park are generally limited
to using the existing road network.
Horse Riding
Horse riding routes that connect with the Park are
situated to the north at Stanstead Abbotts, Amwell,
Holyfield, as well as south of Nazeing and around
Gilwell Park (east of Sewardstone Road). Good
bridleway networks exist beyond the Park boundary to
the north and east, especially within Epping Forest.
What do we want to achieve?
To ensure that the Park is easy for people to
get to and enjoy.
We believe there are five main areas that will help us to
achieve this: -
1. Access for all
We want to make sure that everyone in the region can
get to the Park easily, and that any barriers to access
are removed. This is equally true for people living on
its doorstep in inner London or from across the whole
region.
2. Getting to the Park by Public Transport
We want as many people as possible to use the public
transport network to get to the Park, especially those
coming from places that are too far to walk or cycle. We
want to improve the quality of access from the existing
rail and bus services to make it easier to get from these
transport networks into the Park.
3. Getting to the Park by foot or cycle
We want people to be able to walk, run or cycle to the
Park easily. In order to maximise accessibility we want
to ensure high quality links between the Park’s internal
routes and the external Public Right of Way, cycle and
bridleway network. We aim to deliver a fully integrated
route network to, and through, the Park.
4. Getting to the Park by car
We recognise that vehicle access to many areas of the
Park will remain the preferred mode of transport in the
foreseeable future. We will strive to ensure the Park is
easily located and accessible from the surrounding road
network, and that adequate provision for vehicles is
made at key Park facilities.
5. Remote access
The Park does not only benefit people who visit. Many
people experience the Park through written information,
the internet, newspaper reports and word of mouth.
We want to build on our levels of remote access. To do
this the Park must compete successfully in a crowded
media market. This will require not only a strong
brand and identity for the Park, but also a creative and
constantly evolving approach to what, how, where and
when the Park presents itself to the regional audience
How will we deliver?
On our estate
We will
- Encourage access to the Park by sustainable transport
modes, including walking, running, cycling and public
transport.
- Ensure the Park is truly accessible to all, and that
barriers which prevent access for any section of the
regional community are removed wherever possible.
- Ensure entrance points into the Park are located
intelligently to provide appropriate links with external
routes and public transport networks.
- Develop a strong Park identity and brand, and an
accompanying marketing strategy, to maximise
exposure to the regional market and highlight
sustainable transport options for accessing the Park.
- Develop a comprehensive and coordinated signage
system. This will include appropriate entrance and
branding signage where main transport routes lie
adjacent to or cross the Park and improvements to
signage into the Park from immediate neighbourhoods
both residential and industrial.
- Encourage remote access to the Park through ongoing
development of our website. This will include potential
live stream links to sites and/or events of interest; and
ongoing development and distribution of promotional
and informational literature.
Working with others
We will
- Work with rail operators, including National Express
East Anglia (NEEA), Transport for London and other
relevant operators to maximise awareness and
information about the Park across the rail network. This
will include the provision of high quality station signage
and information relating to the Park: promotion of the
Park facilities and location, branding and marketing of
the existing NEEA rail route as the ‘Lee Valley Park’
line, and ensuring all access routes across the railway
infrastructure are retained and enhanced.
- Work with Network Rail and other partners to explore
opportunities and alleviate the impact arising from
changes to the rail network infrastructure, including
- Potential reopening of Lea Bridge Road Station
- Potential development or relocation of Ponders
End and Angel Road Stations.
- Potential expansion of the Lee Valley line to
four tracks.
- Work with bus operators to locate bus routes and bus
stops near to Park entrances and visitor facilities, to
include appropriate signage providing directions to
Park facilities and to schedule operating times with
Park based events and operations.
- Work with local highway authorities to:
- Enhance the quality of routes to the Park (e.g. from
rail stations), by improving streetscapes, creating
additional signage and mitigating any existing
barriers to access.
- Enhance directional vehicle signage to the Park,
and to key features and facilities within the Park, with
motorway “brown signs” and local information signs.
- Enhance access to the Park by sustainable
transport modes (e.g. walking, running, cycling and
horseback) by developing quality links between
the Parks’ internal and external public right of way
networks, and cycle and bridleway networks, to
deliver integrated routes to and through the Park.
- Create a wide network of web links with local and
regional authorities, and other partners/stakeholders.