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Management and consultation


Management Plan

Grassland management for wild flowers Download the Hampstead Heath Management Plan Part I (374kb)
Download the Hampstead Heath Management Plan Part I Summary (1.2mb)

The City of London produced a draft plan for the management of Hampstead Heath and sought the views of the public on its vision and objectives during a three-month consultation period in 2007. A full report and extended executive summary of the findings of this consultation period was produced by the Environment Council and Resources for Change Ltd. (June 2007).

Download the full report (464kb)
Download the appendices (622kb)
Download the extended executive summary (117kb)
Download the brief summary (357kb)

In the light of this report and the comments made, the City of London made changes to the draft plan. To find out more and view the final plan and all appendices see the link below.

Find out more and download the management plan

Download the Annual Work Plan (602kb)

Parliament Hill Triangle Masterplan

Woman sitting on the Heath. Photo by Richard Lea-Hair Having produced a new management plan for Hampstead Heath, consulting many people in the process, it has become clear to the City of London that the Parliament Hill Triangle is an extremely important gateway to the whole Heath for millions of visitors and potential visitors.

We have, therefore, produced a Masterplan, detailing proposed future improvements to the Parliament Hill Triangle, in conjunction with some of our Heath partners. Elements of this Masterplan formed part of a submission for a Heritage Lottery Fund bid at the end of September 2008. Overall comments on this Masterplan were invited during August 2008. Thank you to those who gave us their comments.  A copy of the report on the consultation is available to download below.  This report and the individual responses that we received will influence how the Masterplan develops over time. A Frequently Asked Questions sheet is also available below. This gave some  initial responses to some of the common questions that emerged as part of the consultation. Further discussion and consultation will, of course, be required with local community groups.

Download the report on the Parliament Hill Triangle consultation (100kb)
Download the Frequently Asked Questions sheet (23kb)

Download the Masterplan (3.2mb) (see more details below)
Download the Masterplan explanatory note - principles and proposals (36kb)

Download more details of the Parliament Hill Triangle draft Masterplan:

Vision and long term aims (307kb)
Prioritisation and new audiences (404kb)
The Triangle: existing (427kb)
The Triangle: proposals (405kb)
Landscape proposals (1.54mb)
Building proposals (286kb) 

There will be opportunities to comment on the detailed proposals that make up the Masterplan over the coming years.

July 2010: Interaction assessment of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians in the Parliament Hill Triangle area

One objective of the 2009 Parliament Hill master plan was to seek to overcome the perceived dangers created by the density and mix of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians on the stretch of pathway between the Highgate Road entrance and the Staff Yard. A proposed alternative route for vehicles to reach the Staff Yard aroused some very vigorous local opposition and was not progressed. Nevertheless, the dangers arising from the use of the Highgate Road entrance for vehicles remain a matter of concern. Consultants were employed to establish whether or not these dangers are real and critical.

View the summary of the consultants' report (1mb)
View the consultants' report (5.1 mb)

This approach is not just an attempt to resurrect the 2009 master plan; it is solely concerned with the risks to which visitors are exposed now, and in the future, based on various assumptions; it is a basic study from first principles; it defines the risks but does not provide the solutions to overcome them.
Ideas or proposals to this end are welcome; the intention is to start with a clean slate, set out all the options as clearly as possible for wide consultation and to select a preferred option by the end of this year.

Parliament Hill HLF application decision

The City of London was notified in 2009 that its application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund (BIG) to carry out improvements to Hampstead Heath had been unsuccessful.

Bob Hall, then Chairman, Hampstead Heath Management Committee said: "The unfavourable decision on the City of London’s application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for financial help to improve the Parliament Hill Fields area of Hampstead Heath is disappointing. Although the funding we sought is not available on this occasion, we will be reviewing what might be done to implement the overall direction of the plan which formed the basis of the application to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

"We are very grateful to everyone who has contributed to the discussions to date on the Parliament Hill Fields plan, and to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the fair and thorough way in which it has conducted the bid process.

"The City of London is committed to ensuring that improvements and developments which take place at Parliament Hill Fields and across the Heath respect the environment, contribute to progressive implementation of sustainable ways of managing the Heath, and allow as many as possible to enjoy visiting the Heath."

Other Management and Consultation

The interim Hampstead Heath Management Plan 2006/08 and the current annual works programme are available to download here.

Download the interim Hampstead Heath Management Plan 2006/08 (5.3mb)
Download the Annual Work Plan (602kb)

The City of London sees consultation as a vital part of effective management of the Heath, working closely with local organisations which are represented on the Heath's Management and Consultative Committees, and meeting regularly with the Heath and Hampstead Society and English Heritage.

Ongoing dialogue with Heath users has reinforced the message that people value the Heath and want it maintained broadly as it is. The management plan reflects this and outlines how active management is essential to maintain and enhance the nature conservation, landscape and amenity interest of Hampstead Heath.

In 2001 the City of London invited the Greater London Authority's Strategy Directorate to produce a report indicating management techniques suitable for the Heath's woodland, scrub and hedgerows. The Heath Management Committee acknowledged that this document added important detail to the Management Plan. During the winter of 2001/2002 staff begun implementing the suggestions on small woodland areas of the Heath. The aim is to increase the beauty as well as the nature conservation and amenity value of our woodlands by use of proven management techniques. The woodland management report complements the grassland management report produced in 2000.

Hampstead Heath - have your say!

Greenstat logo A website www.greenstat.org.uk has been set up to record feedback and provide local residents with the opportunity to comment on how open spaces nationwide are managed and maintained. The City of London will be able to access this information and compare results on Hampstead Heath with other open spaces up and down the country.

We would very much welcome your involvement. Please visit www.greenstat.org.uk and click on the London region, where you will then see a list of organisations – please chose ‘City of London’ which is conveniently located at the very top of the page. You will then be asked to select whether you wish to comment on the Service provided by City of London, or to comment on a specific Open Space. If you select option 2 ‘Park or Open Space’ you will be given a list of City of London open spaces to comment on – please select ‘Hampstead Heath’ from this list and you will then be taken through an online survey.

Pedestrian and Cycle Observation Study

A shared use path on the Heath The City of London commissioned consultants Intelligent Space ATKINS to conduct a series of user surveys on Hampstead Heath during the summer and autumn of 2007 in order to determine user patterns, particularly of pedestrians and cycles, user demographics and public opinion. They looked at the suitability of existing routes and some suggested routes for pedestrians and cycles to share. The aims of the Study reflect commitments made in the draft Part I Hampstead Heath Management Plan. The Pedestrian and Cycle Observation Study report was produced in December 2007.

Download the executive summary (4.1 mb)

Please email us at hampstead.heath@cityoflondon.gov.uk if you would like a disc of the full report posted to you.

The closing date for comments on this document was 1 February 2008. The Hampstead Heath Management Committee considered these comments and decided that further work should be undertaken by specialist consultants to determine the feasibility of introducing two of the suggested routes - Routes 1 and 7. All other suggested routes have been rejected. There is also a need to consider how some of the existing shared use routes can be improved.


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Last modified: 10 March 2011 | Author: David Bentley
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