2020 Vision a world class visitor destination in the Lee Valley
Introduction Lee Valley Regional Park is a multi award-winning set of attractions with around 4.5 million visitors a year.
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Our unique mosaic of major sports venues, riverside trails, parklands, heritage sites, gardens, lakes, fisheries, farms, marinas and campsites stretches 26 miles from the Thames, through east and north London and Essex to Hertfordshire. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are completely reinventing the southern, urban part of the Lee Valley. We will own 35 per cent of the parkland in the new Olympic Park and four venues after the Games. The Games are also benefiting the north of the Lee Valley. We will open the only brand new 2012 venue people can enjoy before the Games – Lee Valley White Water Centre near Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. This will be a commercially operated leisure attraction on the northern edge of London bringing the thrills of white water rafting and canoeing to south east England for the first time. But while these are exciting times, we recognise that the climate is extremely tough, especially for our local authority funders.
Every public body is being challenged to continue delivering a top class service for less money. We are no different and last year froze the levy on local authorities which funds much of our work and are now looking to reduce the levy for the next two years from April 2011. We are already creating economies by sharing services with neighbouring boroughs and other agencies, and are exploring further partnerships which will deliver more savings. Currently we deliver our services across 10,000 acres at an annual cost to the taxpayers of London, Essex and Hertfordshire of £12 million – or £1.27 per head of population. We can, and will, play our part in continuing to increase value and drive down costs. But even in difficult economic circumstances it is important for us to have a clear plan for developing the Park over the next 10 years. We have been engaging a range of people and organisations about the Park and this has enabled us to refine what we believe the future of the Park should be.
Our vision is to continue the transformation of the entire Park, once a neglected backyard of London scarred by industrial development, to create a world class leisure destination. We aim to open up all of the Lee Valley, from the heart of the capital to the Essex and Hertfordshire countryside, so that it becomes a unique combination of activities, sights and experiences. This document sets out the 10 year vision for the Park, the Authority’s mission, our business priorities for the next three years and the commitments to our funders, partners and customers which we will deliver.
Cllr Derrick Ashley Chairman
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A track record of delivery Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a high performing, effective and democratically accountable organisation.
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85%
Visitor satisfaction rating
Our visitors like what we do. We have an 85% visitor satisfaction rating, one of the highest in the leisure and public sectors in the whole of the UK.
The sheer diversity of the Park is one of the key reasons we attract around 4.5 million visitors a year. Alongside the many sports venues and open spaces, the Park also has heritage sites, marinas and accommodation. We run We have eight Green Flag award-winning two campsites which bring thousands of parkland sites, two Green Heritage sites people to the region each year and we and four sports venues with the Quest partnered with the Youth Hostel Association to accreditation – the industry accolade for create YHA Lee Valley, in Cheshunt – a perfect leisure facilities – Lee Valley Athletics Centre, base for adventure activities and exploring Riding Centre, Ice Centre and the WaterWorks the Park, popular with families and education Golf Centre and Nature Reserve. These include: groups from across the country and Europe. – The world class Lee Valley Athletics Centre The Park Authority – one of only two UK Athletics National Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is run Performance Centres and home to half of by a 28 Member Board made up of elected Team GB. It has a track record of turning out councillors. Half are from London Boroughs, top flight medal winners, as well as delivering including the four Lower Lee Valley 2012 vast amounts of community usage. Host Boroughs, and half from Essex and – Lee Valley Riding Centre – the first equestrian Hertfordshire. Time and time again we have centre in the country to be awarded Quest. leveraged large sums of capital investment It is a British Horse Society Accredited Riding bringing enormous improvements to the Park School and Examination Centre and a centre – the Olympics will bring around £200m of for disabled riding, attracting riders from investment. This is on top of £51m of other across the region and providing lessons for capital investment since 2000. a variety of groups. Our education team provides environmental – Lee Valley Ice Centre – a hugely popular and heritage activities for thousands of school venue, attracting more than 300,000 skaters children from 18 London boroughs and 17 a year. It is a Regional Centre of Excellence, districts across Essex and Hertfordshire. We home to a group of international coaches support the Learning Outside the Classroom and regularly draws top skaters and teams. Manifesto and our educational programmes It marries all this with an extensive and blend an understanding of the natural world successful community programme. with broader life skills developed through sport and physical activity. Our parklands are nationally and internationally important environmental We have been awarded the Investing in resources. Eight areas in the Lee Valley Volunteering quality standard and have are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, a 850 volunteers providing 16,000 hours of designation reserved for the country’s work each year on a range of practical very best wildlife sites. Four of these are conservation tasks, events and working of international importance for migrating in venues such as our award winning wetland birds and have been given Special Lee Valley Athletics Centre. Protection Area status – making this area Everything we do is underpinned by a drive one of only two in London with this standing. to secure the best possible value for money. This section of the Park is also recognised We ensure efficient operations and high under the Ramsar Convention as an performance in all our projects. internationally important wetland habitat. More than 500 events take place each year in the Park and we have a long history of including vulnerable and under-represented groups in activity. 2010 saw the launch of Wild Space, Your Place – a Heritage Lottery Funded project with the RSPB bringing the joys and benefits of open spaces to under represented groups of London boroughs.
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2020 Vision a world class visitor destination in the Lee Valley
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We have just completed an 18 month long consultation with stakeholders across the Park, part of a process to create our Park Development Framework. This sets out our aspirations for the future development and management of the Park and is built around key aims which show the range of benefits the Park brings.
We will make a virtue of the combination of the built up, urban south of the Valley and the serenity of the north, using this mix to attract millions more visitors to the many active leisure pursuits across the Park. There will be a variety of places to stay and people will be encouraged to stay overnight, for weekends or longer.
It will be a place full of inspirational sports venues – not least, fabulous open spaces, outstanding leisure activities, education programmes bringing nature alive for millions of people and a huge variety of recreational opportunities.
Large areas of Lee Valley Regional Park are already internationally designated and protected for their nature conservation value. We will continue to develop and manage the Park to be an even richer place for wildlife – a place where plants and animals can thrive and where people can experience and enjoy the environment.
People from across the region and the country will be attracted to hundreds of great days out. We will, working with others, draw upon the galvanising power of London 2012’s legacy, which will add to the world class sports venues along the length of the Park. We have a well-respected track record of bringing sports venues alive, effortlessly blending elite and community use. The legacy from the Games will give visitors to the Lee Valley dozens of places to take part in the kind of active leisure which Lee Valley Regional Park is already known for – from horse riding, ice skating, athletics, cycling, white water rafting, tennis to hockey. Visitors will also experience the wonders of nature just a stone’s throw from the city and enjoy the great open spaces which the Park – London’s green lung – offers. But it’ll be even more than this. We will bring together partners, landowners, community groups and local authorities across the Valley. Together we will create this world class destination with active leisure at its heart. It will capitalise on the Lee Valley’s unique possibilities, especially the River Lee, the spine of the Park, a direct link from the Thames to rural Hertfordshire and Essex.
In the same way that the Lake District or the Peak District are home to varied activities, but primarily known as national parks, the Lee Valley will, over time, be identified as one coherent national destination for sport and active leisure. We believe Lee Valley Regional Park, with other partners along the Valley, will be an incredible destination which people will return to again and again – a must see destination.
The Park Authority’s role and mission is now to lead the delivery of this world class leisure destination through a range of private and public sector partnerships whilst maximising value for money for the taxpayers of London, Essex and Hertfordshire.
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Our key Business Objectives 2010–13
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1 Reduce the cost of the Park to the taxpayer
2 Develop and maximise commercial opportunities
We have always been very conscious of the pressures which our funding authorities are under. Over the years we have charged the council tax payers of London, Essex and Hertfordshire a lower levy than we could legally. This is already on a downward trend and we currently charge 63 per cent of the maximum.
We will increase and improve overall leisure opportunities throughout the Park through greater commercial developments with the private sector. This will deliver more benefits for visitors to the Park and reduce the cost of the Park to the taxpayer. It will be done sensitively and selectively in key strategic areas of the Park.
We are determined that our 2020 Vision will deliver vast improvements to the Park with less demand on the taxpayer, by leveraging greater external funding and maximising commercial opportunities.
We will:
We will: – take major strides to reduce the levy from 63 per cent of the maximum chargeable to 50 per cent, whilst working towards a longer term funding model which sees the majority of our funding coming from sources other than taxation – s ignificantly increase our income through commercial opportunities and a market led pricing policy – r educe our senior management staff costs by a third
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– build new partnerships with businesses in the commercial leisure sector. This will include new attractions, especially ones which complement our London 2012 venues and overall visitor offer – create more and varied visitor accommodation – specifically in the south of the Park – and new events – market specific opportunity sites for development such as Pickett’s Lock in Edmonton and Broxbourne Riverside, which can then generate income to invest in the wider Park – develop new income streams through a strong focus on sponsorship and corporate partnerships.
–g enerate at least £250,000 from London 2012 related activities –d evelop innovate operating models and increase the shared services we already have with other agencies and boroughs – c ontinue to effectively use our own financial resources to lever in external funding.
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Our key Business Objectives 2010–13
3 Offer the greatest possible value to our funders and visitors New developments and initiatives will radically improve the offer to our funders, and attract new visitors from across the region. We will: – develop a cutting edge education programme which will attract 20 per cent more education visitors by 2013 – capitalise on our London 2012 venues to create innovative leisure packages which will attract new visitors to the Park – deliver a pre-Games education pledge providing every borough and district in London, Essex and Hertfordshire with the opportunity to select one school group to raft at Lee Valley White Water Centre for free in summer 2011 – create a new brand by April 2011, building a sense of destination for the Lee Valley as a prime area for sport and active leisure.
4 Turn our 2012 venues into successful, viable and inclusive facilities for the community, region and the nation We will run four world class 2012 venues for the people of the UK after the Games. They are being developed in partnership with each National Governing Body and will be long lasting, of the highest quality opening up sporting opportunities for thousands of people every year. We will open: – Lee Valley White Water Centre in spring 2011 – a unique pre-Games legacy for the UK. This will be the best centre in the world and will then be the first 2012 venue to reopen after the Games, by spring 2013. There will be two courses suitable for users of varied abilities to enjoy the thrill of rafting and canoeing – Lee Valley VeloPark in 2013 which will cater for cyclists of all disciplines. It will include a Velodrome for track cyclists, a BMX track, a one mile road cycle circuit and mountain bike tracks creating an iconic cycling hub in the heart of the Olympic Park – Lee Valley Hockey Centre in 2014 – a venue which will host events ranging from community hockey to international competition accommodating up to 15,000 spectators – L ee Valley Tennis Centre in 2014 – the Paralympic tennis venue will be a new regional centre for tennis with a tennis development programme for all levels.
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5 Work with the Olympic Park Legacy Company to determine the most economic and most effective management model for the Olympic Park The wider Olympic Park will become one of the most important visitor destinations in the UK, as well as home to thousands of people, creating new communities in the heart of east London. We will run three venues on the Olympic Park and own 35% of the parklands. We will: – continue to work closely with and support the Olympic Park Legacy Company at all levels to resolve with them the best way to create a popular, exciting visitorfocused destination – bring our decades of experience of procurement in the areas of sports venues management and parks management, delivering services with third party providers – share with all parties our highly regarded systems and infrastructure – work to activate the open spaces through a range of community, regional and major events, education and sports development programmes.
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Lee Valley Regional Park Authority Myddelton House Bulls Cross Enfield Middlesex EN2 9HG
London
Tel: 08456 770 600 www.leevalleypark.org.uk info@leevalleypark.org.uk
WARE
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Partnership is key to achieving our vision. To find out more about the Park and to tell us what you think, please contact us on the details above.
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Harlow
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Hoddesdon
Key Sites
BROXBOURNE Park
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Country
1 Amwell Nature Reserve 2 Lee Valley Marina,
3 Rye Meads Nature Reserve 4 Lee Valley Boat Centre
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Lee Valley Park Farms YHA Lee Valley
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WARE
6 Lee Valley White Water Centre 7 Gunpowder Park
Waltham Abbey
WALTHAM CROSS
5 River Lee Country Park
8 Lee Valley Campsite, Sewardstone 9 Lee Valley Athletics Centre Lee Valley Camping & Caravan Park, Edmonton
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River Lee
Stanstead Abbotts
Enfield
Loughton
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10 Tottenham Marshes 11 Lee Valley Marina, Springfield 12 Walthamstow Marshes
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13 WaterWorks Nature Reserve
WALTHAMSTOW CENTRAL
TOTTENHAM HALE
BROXBOURNE
14 Olympic Park:
Leyton
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Lee Valley VeloPark and Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centres
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Ilford
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15 Three Mills Island
16 Bow Creek Ecology Park and East India Dock Basin
Hackney
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WALTHAM CROSS
2011
Newham
SteersMcGillanEves Design 01225 465546
and Golf Centre Lee Valley Riding Centre Lee Valley Ice Centre