Project

Sayes Court Garden Network project

One of the projects under the umbrella of the Greening Evelyn Greenspace Toolkit is the Sayes Court Garden Network project. As part of this we are working with Lewisham Council and community partners to develop designs for 3 revitalised green spaces on the Sayes Court estate, in collaboration with the local community.

A £40,000 Development Grant from the Greater London Authority’s Green and Resilient Spaces Fund, coupled with £30,000 of Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy funding from Lewisham Council, are funding a programme of community engagement to develop and re-design the ideas the community has for using these currently under-used areas.

Lewisham Sayes Court Greening Evelyn event — A family enjoying activities at the Lewisham Sayes Court Garden Network project event | © National Trust Images_Arnhel de Serra

Our plan for the project

We have been working with local partners to run a series of events and activities to understand people’s views on their local green spaces and how these could be improved. Have a look at our project timeline to find out more.

Latest updates

Following a series of engagement activities, including a community picnic on the 20 July, we’ve listened to the feedback received from residents to select which green spaces on the estate should be re-designed. We’re pleased to be able to share initial design concepts for these spaces, developed by nimtim architects.

These concepts have been formed using community feedback as well as ideas shared at workshops held at the Richard McVicar Adventure Playground, Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network and at the green space outside Langford House.

Sayes Court Design ideas

We've now finished collecting feedback on these ideas, which will be used to refine the designs. The next set of designs will be shared at a community event later this year.

Wider Greening Evelyn vision

The Sayes Court Garden Network project is one of the projects included within the Greening Evelyn Toolkit. Over the last couple of years, we have been working with a coalition of organisations in Lewisham - including DeptfordFolk, Lewisham Council, Everest, local Tenants and Residents Associations for the Pepys Estate, to develop a 'Greenspace Toolkit' for Evelyn Ward. The plan looks at how green spaces can be created, enhanced and managed with communities, for communities.

A copy of the Toolkit is available here.

Find out more about Greening Evelyn with this short film: Greening Evelyn vision

Project timeline

July 2024

Community picnic

A community picnic was hosted by nimtim Architects on 20 July to hear more from people about which local green spaces should be improved and how. We shared a letter with everyone on the estate inviting them to the event and giving everyone the opportunity to share their views via an online survey.

At the picnic, nimtim brought a large-scale map of the estate printed on a blanket. People were invited to place tokens onto the map to show how they currently use the spaces and which spaces they would like to use differently. A model of the estate was also used to collect more detailed feedback on specific locations and to vote for areas to be re-designed.