Down Lane Park improvement project

Working together with the community to improve Down Lane Park.

Latest updates

Phase 1 improvements started on site in the north-east of the park (adjacent to Ashley Road and Harris Academy) in January and completed on 4 August 2024.

Check out the new diagonal path, stunning Wildflower Swales, a shaded woodland area with fresh planting and seating, and a brand-new outdoor gym!

The next phase includes a proposal of a brand new community hub, improved lighting and additional landscaping.

Engagagement website and further reading

Working together to improve Down Lane Park

Approximately 18,000 people live within a 10-minute walk of Down Lane Park. It’s an important community asset for Tottenham Hale.

At the start of 2022, we set out to develop a vision for the future of Down Lane Park, working with a Community Design Group (CDG), made up of volunteers and representatives from the local area. Working together over 15 months and 19 meetings we have developed a single (masterplan) design proposal for the park that we consulted on for 2 weeks in May 2023. We will be using feedback from this public engagement to inform the refinement of the proposals and subsequent planning application in the summer.

We have set our ambitions for the park high, to ensure that the designs deliver the improvements that Tottenham Hale’s communities want and deserve. These include:

  • new entrances
  • better pathways
  • upgraded green spaces, sports and play facilities
  • making the park safer and more inclusive
  • delivering a permanent Community Hub building

These improvements will be delivered in stages. We have £3 million of developer contributions secured to fund design and first package of improvements, plus £750,000 grant funding from the Mayor of London. Recently, the council's Cabinet approved the allocation of a further £4.31 million for investment in the park, which should enable the delivery of the new Community Hub and park improvements in full. Given the extent of improvements, construction delivery will need to be spread over a number of years.

Co-designing Down Lane Park improvements

We’ve been working with young residents of Tottenham Hale to gather data on how the park is used and perceived by the broader community, particularly younger residents and users.

With support from the Mayor of London's Green and Resilient Spaces Fund, the council partnered with Kaizen Partnership to train young residents of Tottenham Hale to conduct peer-to-peer engagement in the park. The training involved:

  • collecting data from park users
  • talking to them about their park usage
  • gathering suggestions for improvements

So far, 8 young local residents have been trained by Kaizen Partnership. They have engaged with 265 park users. The insights gathered from this exercise are being used to inform the park's designs and improvements.

The findings have revealed that 73% of respondents had not previously shared their views, and the respondents represent a more diverse community compared to earlier public engagement efforts.

Down Lane Park user and community forum

The Forum is led by the community, and will decide its own priorities and focus, which may include: