Vauxhall park to get £225K facelift to cope with residents in new high-rises

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A park will get a £227,000 facelift to help it cope with an influx of residents expected to live in new high-rises being built in the area.

Pedlars Park in Vauxhall will get new play equipment, fencing and plants as part of a seven-week refurbishment expected to begin in mid-June.

The £227,637 sum Lambeth council has allocated to update the park will also cover maintenance of the green space, which is located between Vauxhall and Waterloo.

The number of people living in Vauxhall and Waterloo has jumped by almost 1,500 in the last 20 years, with 14,118 people calling either area home as of 2021.

Council documents said new blocks of flats being built locally meant demand for green spaces like Pedlars Park would increase in the coming years.

An Equalities Analysis of the project reads: “This park is in an area undergoing major regeneration resulting in increased population, and with quite a number of new high‐rise buildings being constructed. So there will be increased demand for public open spaces, such as Pedlars Park.

“The changes to this green space which is much valued by the local residents will be very positive. A large number of local residents live in social housing ﴾with a fair proportion in high‐rise blocks﴿ and many with no gardens. And therefore the refurbishment of Pedlars Park will be very welcome.”

As part of the refurbishment, the park will get a new playground, while a garden in the centre of the park will be replanted. New seating will be fitted and repairs will be made to the pergolas. The park’s signs will also be replaced and flooding and drainage issues sorted out, according to council documents.

Last week builders started work on a 42-storey skyscraper in Vauxhall that will include 257 flats. The tower will be connected to a 53-storey hotel containing a 619-room hotel and offices.

If completed, the building would become South London’s third tallest building after the Shard and a 56-storey skyscraper in nearby Nine Elms.

Vauxhall is already home to one of the UK’s tallest residential towers, the 50-storey St George Wharf Tower finished in 2014.

The skyscraper contains 215 flats. Hundreds of homes are also due to be built in a 48-storey and 50-storey tower planned for Vauxhall Square. The two skyscrapers are currently under construction.

Pictured top: Pedlars Park in Vauxhall is surrounded by tower blocks (Picture: Google Street View)