Wetlands to be created at Chestnuts Park

A wetland area will be created in a West Green park to help reduce flooding and create more sports and play areas.

Haringey Council has secured a £300,000 grant from a City Hall environment fund to carry out improvement work at Chestnuts Park.

The council plans to open the culverted Stonebridge Brook, which runs beneath the park, and create new wetlands.

Large parts of Chestnuts Park, which used to be a watercress farm, become waterlogged during wet weather and cannot be used. As well as improving drainage and reducing flooding downstream, the scheme aims to create space for sports and leisure facilities and boost wildlife habitats.

The council says it will work with the Friends of Chestnuts Park and other groups to develop the wetlands project, having met with them regularly over the last few years

It has also secured a £40,000 grant from the same fund to carry out design and engagement work for a similar scheme in Down Lane Park, Tottenham Hale, which aims to improve biodiversity and reduce flood risk.

A Haringey Council spokesperson said: “We are grateful to receive this funding from the GLA [Greater London Authority] via the Green and Resilient Spaces Fund to help support our co-designed improvement projects in Chestnuts Park and Down Lane Park.

“We recognise that community buy-in is crucial to the success of these projects overall and are very much looking forward to working closely with local stakeholders and residents on a shared vision for the future of these two parks.

“By working collaboratively in tandem together, we hope to bring about the improvements that we all want to see in these two green, open spaces, which benefit our residents’ health, wellbeing and quality of life and enhance the amenities and facilities, biodiversity and ecology at the sites too.”