People and Places International Ltd.

            I have had some correspondence from an organisation called People and Places International Ltd., who have come up with an alternative idea for the Crystal Palace site development. They are applying for planning permission to build a model of the 1851 Great Exhibition building at Blackheath, where it will stay for a year, and then move it onto the Crystal Palace site. As I understand it there is a lot of support for the scheme and steps are already being taken to prepare an Act of Parliament to allow it to go forward. I wrote to Raymond Hall joint managing director as follows.

Dear Mr Hall,

                        Many thanks for sending me a copy of the discussion document for Crystal Palace, Sydenham and Blackheath. I should like to make the following observation which is a personal one and not put forward, as from the Exhibition Study Group, of which I happen to be the secretary of.

                        I would like to make the point that the Crystal Palace was never in Sydenham, is not in Sydenham now, and is never likely to ever be in Sydenham. The Crystal Palace when it was re-erected in 1852-54 was sited in Penge, which for nearly 150 years has been ignored. This has gone on for long enough and I feel now is the time to put this right.

                        The only justification I can find for this well established error is that if you approach the Palace from London you came through Sydenham, ignoring the fact that equally well if you came from the other direction you come through Anerley, or through Norwood, or even Forest Hill.

                        The 1894-96 25 inch to the mile ordinance maps of the area clearly show that the bulk of the Palace building (apart from a small slither at the South Transept Entrance) and the larger part of the grounds was in Penge, and the rest of the grounds was in Beckenham. When Penge became part of Beckenham and later both became part of the London Borough of Bromley, it is Bromley who now administers the Palace area.

                        It is interesting to note when you go back to the last big do at the Crystal Palace in 1911 The Festival of Empire and Pageant of London, Penge was given the place of honour and was the first to stage a scene in Part 1, (Roman London The Triumph of Carausius) while Sydenham followed 15 scenes later in Part 3 Scene 2 (Pocahontas at the Court of James I).

                        And finally you may have overlooked the fact that the name of the 200 acre estate bought by Paxton to be the new site for the Crystal Palace was Penge Place. So why not get it right, drop Sydenham, and start talking about the Penge Crystal Palace.

                        All the best for your project,

                                                                                                                        Bill Tonkin.

            Thanks to Raymond Hall, some material has been made available to me for inclusion in our Journal on this proposed venture, which I think will be of interest to many of us. The Exhibition Study Group is not in the business of trying to influence planning bodies, but this is surely better than a eighteen screen cinema that some cretin has thought up.

DO YOU WANT THE CRYSTAL PALACE REBUILT IN CRYSTAL PALACE PARK?

Reproduced by kind permission of People and Places International Ltd, 16 Belmont Hill, London SE13 5BD

Plans to rebuild The Crystal Palace

to Sir Joseph Paxton's original, Hyde Park design of 1851

have recently been submitted to Bromley Council

by a company called People and Places International Ltd.  

If accepted, People and Places' plans will:

·      retain the trees along Crystal Palace Parade, planted in memory of the original Palace

·      build The Crystal Palace set back from the Parade, alongside most of the foundations of the original Palace

·      build underground auditoria, under The Crystal Palace - so there is room for a balanced mix of arts, eating, leisure, educational, heritage and cultural facilities, to be agreed with local residents

·      reinstate the Italian Terrace, with its fountains, walkways, gardens and stone arched walls

·      conceal all parking facilities beneath the restored Italian Terrace

·      incorporate side access to the car park and remove all existing parking in the northern half of the park, so the park becomes car-free parkland, safe and visually pleasing for pedestrians

·      landscape the central area of the park, to create a "village green" at the heart of the park

·      help design a 21st Century eco-park that is environmentally friendly

·      establish the park as a focus and business provider for the area

    (as Windsor Castle does in Windsor)

PEOPLE AND PLACES PROPOSE

SOMETHING FOR ALL AGES, 

RETURNING THE PALACE THE WORLD LOVED

TO ITS HOME OF CRYSTAL PALACE.

For the Crystal Palace to return home:

·      plans for an 18 screen multiplex, with a rooftop car park, need to be dropped

·      London and Regional Properties needs to be willing to provide its services within The Crystal Palace, rather than the multiplex currently proposed.

·      People and Places' plans need to be approved by Bromley Council

·      Parliament needs to pass an Act permitting Bromley Council to enhance the park in this way

Rebuilding The Crystal Palace is possible

if we all act

NOW

 Write  NOW to:

    (1)   Your MP at The House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA

                                               e.g.    Jacqui Lait                 (Beckenham)

                                                         Tessa Jowell              (West Dulwich)

                                                         Malcolm Wicks         (Croydon North); 

                                                         Jim Dowd                  (Lewisham West)

     (2)     Ian Livingstone of London and Regional Properties

              40 New Bond Street, London W1Y 9HR

     (3)     Chris Maines and John Holbrook, Joint Leaders of Bromley Borough                           Council, The Civic Centre, Stockwell Close, Bromley, Kent BR1 3UH

telling them:

·      you have heard of The Crystal Palace plans

·      your reasons why you would like The Crystal Palace to be rebuilt

·      you would like them to support this project rather than the one

with the rooftop car park currently planned

A copy of your letter would be appreciated, with written permission for us to quote your comments

For a summary of the outline planning proposals

please send us two second class stamps

For further information, contact us

 at:

REBUILD THE CRYSTAL PALACE

88 Westow  Hill, London SE19 1SB

e-mail: rtcp@phoenixshoes.co.uk