Our Future Fairlop

The final co-designed masterplan was approved by Cabinet in July this year and we want to work with you to bring this vision to life. We would like to invite you to join us at one of our engagement events to explore proposals for a new:

• Entrance near Barkingside Station
• Play space
• Adventure trail to connect the west side of the park

We are keen to learn more about accessibility in this area and how we can make sure it is a space for people to enjoy, whilst being a haven for nature.

Join us in person on Saturday 23 September 1pm-4:30pm outside Fairlop Waters Boathouse. There will be lots of activities for all ages to share their thoughts.

Or sign up via Eventbrite to our online workshop on Thursday 28 September 6:30pm-8pm. Please note there are limited spaces for this workshop so please register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please feel free to circulate this invite amongst your networks. Everyone is welcome to join.

Sign up to the Our Future Fairlop newsletter or find further updates on the Our Future Fairlop page with opportunities of how you can participate in the next phase.

During Phase 4 of engagement, residents shared their views on the draft masterplan. Findings from this fourth phase of engagement can be found in the Our Future Fairlop Phase 4 Engagement Report.

The masterplan team have reviewed the feedback and using Vision Principles created by the community in phase two have made changes to the final masterplan design.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the engagement process so far, in July the final masterplan was approved by Cabinet. You can see changes made below and in the Final Masterplan document. Key changes include:

-Removal of BBQ area

-Introduction of changing facility for wild swimming

-Introduction of dedicated area for dog exercise

Alongside making changes to the masterplan, the team have also been engaging with local Sea Scout groups on the development of the adventure trail for the park. Over several sessions, the children created drawings and models of what play features they would like to see in future.

We are now working on a series of projects to bring the masterplan to life, this will consist of:

• Improvements to the Barkingside entrance
• Improvements to signage and wayfinding
• Introduction of a sculpture trail

We’ll be updating this page with opportunities of how you can participate in the next phase of Our Future Fairlop. Please see the news feed article below to learn about more about your chance to design a sculpture for the park.

In the meantime, find out what Fairlop Waters has to offer this summer.

Are you a budding artist or designer? Would you like to see your art brought to life? Send us your sculpture designs for Fairlop Waters.

We have exciting plans to preserve and expand Fairlop Waters, part of this is to add community art which reflects the residents of Redbridge and their vision for the future.

We want you to create a design for a wooden sculpture on the theme of ‘Our Future Fairlop’.

The winning design will be brought to life by a local artist and form part of the upcoming sculpture trail in the park.

To enter, please email regeneration@redbridge.gov.uk with the subject line OFF Sculpture Competition and submit a photograph or a scan of your own unique artwork. Please note your design can be a drawing, painting, sculpture or digital art. All competition entries will be judged by a local artist after the closing date.

The competition will close on Thursday 31 August at 5pm.

Who can apply?

Submissions for the sculpture design competition are open to anyone of any age. If you are under 18 please have a parent/guardian submit on your behalf.

How to apply?

Email regeneration@redbridge.gov.uk with the subject line OFF Sculpture Competition and include your design as an attachment. Please note your design can be a photo of a drawing, painting, sculpture or digital art.

When you submit your artwork please include your name, contact details and title of the work. For your privacy, only your first name will be made public where the work is credited or referenced.

Terms and conditions

• This competition is free to enter.
• All ages can enter this competition.
• You must submit your images by completing the survey by the deadline on 25 August at 5pm.
• The winner(s) will be selected by a local artist.
• If you are the winner, a member of staff from the council will contact you via email or telephone.
• By submitting work, you consent to Redbridge Council using your work and images or videos of your work for education, promotional and publicity purposes including social media, press, in digital and print format, website and in our on-going communications. Such permission shall be without charge and in perpetuity. The artist will be credited wherever the work is used or referenced.
• Each artist, by entering this competition confirms that they hold all intellectual property rights in the work.
• We will process your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and will only use these contact details to contact you about the competition. They will not be used for any other purpose. Further information about how the Council use your personal data can be found on our website.

We appointed Focus consultants and their specialist team to develop a masterplan for Fairlop Waters which will create a long-term vision for the park.

Phase 3 of engagement took place between Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022. Together, over 40 residents worked with the Masterplan design team through a series of co-design sessions to develop the new draft Masterplan for Fairlop Waters. The group were informed by the vision principles that were created by the community in phase 2.

We would like to hear your views on the draft design. You can view the draft masterplan and share your thoughts by completing the online survey. Even if you do not currently use the park, we still welcome your ideas. Fairlop Waters is for everyone.

A Large print draft masterplan is also available.

There will be a number of drop-in sessions where you can view the plans, ask any questions and fill in a survey in person. In addition, Kaizen (who led the engagement as part of the masterplan team) will be doing some outreach engagement in Fairlop and the surrounding areas. You might meet them while they are walking about the park at Fairlop or elsewhere in the community, feel free to share your views with them. Please see the dates for outreach days and drop-in sessions below:

-Saturday 10 September 10AM-3PM - Wilderness Street event, Oakfield Rd, Ilford IG1 1ZJ (Drop-in) -CANCELLED.

-Saturday 24 September 10AM-3PM - Wilderness Street event, Oakfield Rd, Ilford IG1 1ZJ (Drop-in)

-Sunday 18 September, 10AM-3PM- Fairlop Waters Country Park, Forest Rd, IG6 3HN (Outreach)

-Saturday 24 September, 10AM-3PM- Fairlop Waters Country Park, Forest Rd, IG6 3HN (Outreach)

-Sunday 25 September, 10AM-3PM- Fairlop Waters Country Park, Forest Rd, IG6 3HN (Drop-in and outreach)

-Saturday 01 October, 12PM-3PM -Spark Lab drop-in event, 120-122 Ilford High Road, IG1 1DA (Drop-in)

More dates will be posted once confirmed.

Phase 2 of the Our Future Fairlop took place over the summer of 2021. We brought together residents randomly selected through a sortition process to participate in a series of workshops with local groups to develop a common vision for the expansion of Fairlop Waters. The group developed a set of vision principles which can be found here and these will be used to inform the masterplan.

Focus Consultants have been appointed to produce a masterplan for Fairlop Waters, a long-term planning document that provides a layout and will guide the future development of the park, as well as options for attracting investment to ensure financial sustainability. They have been visiting the site, gathering information and developing phase 3 of engagement. Beginning in October, Focus will be working with the community to translate the vision principles into the masterplan.

We’ll be updating this page with opportunities of how you can participate in phase 3 of engagement for Our Future Fairlop.

The Council is putting together a long-term vision to help expand Fairlop Waters, adding 250 acres of green space to the much-loved local parkland, and last year launched an engagement exercise to find out what local people would like to see in the park.

Findings from the first engagement phase and plans to develop a masterplan with the community have been approved by Cabinet in February 2021. We have also published the Our Future Fairlop Phase 1 Engagement Report from the three-month period of engagement between September and December 2020. Please find the report here.

We are now launching Phase 2 which will take place from April to July 2021 and consist of a series of steps:

• Development of a Vision for Fairlop Waters: Individuals randomly selected through a sortition process will be contacted and invited to participate in a series of workshops with the aim of finalising with local groups and the council a common vision for Fairlop Waters and design principles/concepts to inform the masterplanning phase. This process has been designed to guarantee diverse democratic participation and will build on what already shared during Phase 1.

Please visit the Sortition Foundation website by 3rd May 2021 if you would like to register and get the chance to be selected.

Please fill the Advisory group EOI form by 3rd May 2021 if you would like to participate as part of an advisory group in light of your knowledge and expertise in a specific area.

Thank you for applying for a place as part of the advisory group. We accept applications on a rolling basis for those still interested, so please complete the form in the EOI forms section and we will get in touch.

• Appointment of a masterplan consultant: the Council will be commissioning consultants to produce a masterplan, a long-term planning document that provides a layout and will guide future development of the park, as well as attracting investment to ensure the park remains financially sustainable. At this stage, we would like to know if you are interested in contributing to the evaluation and selection of the final consultants. Please fill the Volunteer Opportunity for the appointment of the masterplan consultants form by 14th May 2021 if you would like to participate.

Thank you for applying as volunteer to support the masterplan consultant appointment. Applications are now closed.

• Ideas for Fairlop Waters: we have already collected a range of ideas from local residents for events, initiatives and improvements to the park, including history walks, food markets, wild swimming and an inclusive playground. Whilst these will be built into the master planning process, there is an opportunity to start delivering some of these ideas earlier, in anticipation of future changes. Please check our Map tool to suggest your more imminent projects to implement.

We can anticipate there will be other opportunities for those interested and not selected at this stage and everyone will still be able to provide insights and comments through our engagement website Let’s Talk Redbridge.

Since September we’ve had more than 150 face-to-face conversations with people both inside the park and outside, in neighbouring high streets, tube stations, parks, libraries and leisure centres. We’ve also had a huge response to our online survey, interactive map and ideas board which display the deep consideration, passions and interests that many have put into the research.

On Wednesday 16th December at 6 pm, we will be hosting an online event to share what we have learnt through our engagement with people in the local community. Please visit the Eventbrite page to register for this event.

As part of our engagement, we’ve been considering how everyone can continue to be involved beyond our initial engagement as a future vision is created over the next couple of years.

It is imperative that any future vision for the park is created alongside the people who use, visit and appreciate it. We believe that Fairlop Waters should be reflective of the community it represents and must welcome and value the diverse voices, talents and contributions of community members in order to be truly inclusive. This means that our engagement with people in the community must extend beyond now and into the future, as a vision is created and changes are made. It is for these reasons that we have created a second online survey which will be online until 7th January 2021. We hope that through hearing your thoughts we can continue to work with people throughout the evolution of Fairlop Waters in the most meaningful and sustainable way.