Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park awarded funding to transform North Wall Road into a green accessible space for local people
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) and London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) have been awarded funding for green infrastructure through the Mayor of London’s Green and Resilience Spaces Fund to transform North Wall Road on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
North Wall Road was built for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Located on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, it was intended to be an adopted road, forming part of the road network parallel to the A12, supporting east/west links and sustainable transport policies.
Part owned by the LVRPA and LLDC, there is no desire by neighbouring local authorities to open the road up to traffic, so it will remain closed for the foreseeable future. However, it currently presents a unique opportunity to transform a road into a linear park through a rewilding project and retaining it as a walking, wheeling and cycling route.
During COVID lockdowns more local people started using it, but it is a poor landscape with very little biodiversity or amenity value. It’s remote location and limited use attracts antisocial behaviour and inappropriate use. Consequently, local people would like it improved into a green infrastructure route for walking, wheeling and cycling with better biodiversity and parkland. LVRPA and LLDC have formed a partnership and would like to develop local community ideas into an exemplar rewilding and community participation project. It could be an innovative green and sustainable solution; providing a biodiverse visitor destination, co-designed with local people, including potential academic research, which is appealing for people in the diverse local communities.
The funding will be used to support the design phase costs to develop a project with a landscape architect and in consultation with the local community to deliver an exciting new space, rich in biodiversity and showcasing a rewilding project turning a hard landscape into a more appealing one.
Update March 2024
We have now completed a full exercise looking at options to rewild this area and completed the works that were funded by the Green and Resilient Spaces Fund from the GLA. The draft proposals are now being considered and we have concept drawings up to RIBA Stage 2. We have also undertaken a design review with the GLA and have received feedback and potential
