A rather loud day for residents of the Gideon Road estate, as works begin to on a project to improve the estate’s gardens and landscaping. The first stage is the most disruptive, as the large concrete foundations between the blocks are dug up. These used to support a load of rentable storage sheds – which were removed about 15-20 years ago as they were damp and little-used, their roofs were made of asbestos, and the narrow alleyways around them gave cover for all manner of dubious after-dark activities! These areas have been a bit of an eyesore, not to mention a waste of a fairly large area of usable space, ever since.

These new landscaping works are loosely related to the development that has been underway for some time in the estate’s garage area to the north, which we have written about several times (most recently when the first phase completed). There’s a second phase of new building work coming soon, which we’ll write about in the next few days.

Maybe as an indirect effort to make up for the extended disruption that the building works caused to existing residents (including the loss of parking spaces during the works), Wandsworth’s Housing Development team secured funding to improve the shared areas of the Gideon Road estate. They did various investigations to see what could be done to improve the estate landscaping, and developed some initial options that were then discussed with residents – focussed on making the estate a better and more attractive place to live – which included various landscaping and facilities. These conversations led to some tweaks to the plans (for example – people felt that a new playground for young children could be too close to the properties and duplicate the existing one on the other part of the estate). The designs were then updated, and work has now started.

The plan above shows what we can expect for the currently concreted over area between 1-28, and 29-56, which we have shaded in brown. Essentially removing the concrete slabs and converting it to a small grass courtyard surrounded by a new paved pathway and low level planting. We’re lucky to have Wandsworth’s Horticultural Services team involved here, who also look after the Borough’s parks, as they’ve got lots of experience in developing planting schemes that are low maintenance but also likely to provide interest and colour all year round. The footpath that runs from Lavender Hill down to the car park will be realigned to line up with the staircase, moving it a bit further away from the buildings, and will also be repaved with a new surface. The existing London Plane trees will remain in place (and may be a bit happier without huge concrete slabs covering up their roots). One of the foundations was recently adapted as a base for a secure cycle storage shed (pictured above), which has been unbolted during the demolition of the concrete, but which will be reinstalled close to the current location after the works.

Down the steps to the car park between the same two blocks, work is already underway to dig up the sides of the footpaths, with a small strip of the back of the parking spaces and of the pavement removed and dug out.

The plan, shown below, is to create a thin strip of green space between the parked cars and the way in to the flats – adding small shrubs and few trees along each side of the car park. Hopefully this should make the car park area look a bit nicer from the flats facing it, and add some colour to what is currently a very grey and bleak part of the estate. Although the building work needs a temporary car park closure, the number of parking spaces won’t be changed as part of these works.

The other courtyard (between 29-57 and 57-84) is also set to see some works – again removing the abandoned concrete slab and creating a small grassed and planted garden courtyard – but also making some small improvements to the existing garden area down the steps. That area is currently a flat lawn area to create a small hillock to add a bit of interest, as well as an area that would be a wildflower meadow (shown in the area with the green dots on the layout plan below, where Gideon Road is at the top of the picture). The five trees will remain in place (and a couple more small ones may be added).

One final change is a small but sensible one: The messy paths connecting Tipthorpe Road and Pountney Road behind The Crown have always seemed a rather odd and badly laid out part of the estate – as it creates two paths that start off well but turn in to complete dead ends, separated by a steep bank of grass – just behind the large three in our photo below. The lower path that goes nowhere other than some rarely used back garden access gates even has street lighting!

The map below, with the original design of the estate, shows that this strange layout does seem to have been the plan from the outset! Maybe it was a Friday afternoon in the architects’ office at the time. Ever since there has been a muddy unofficial path connecting the two levels, between the row of houses and the rest of the estate, and the schools and facilities lying to the north.

As the plan below shows (where we have shaded the back of The Crown pub in brown, with Tipthorpe Road to the right), a short new path with steps will be built on the current unofficial path, making it tidier and safer; and part of the existing path will be repaved and tidied up.

Overall – it’s good to see some investment in the estate, which is a popular one that’s worked well over the 50 or so years since it was first built. These works seem to have been carefully and sensibly designed to make it a better place to live, while also being durable and low-maintenance. They should improve what ought to be valuable green spaces, but which have definitely been a bit of a lost opportunity for some years.

If you found this of interest you may also want to see our posts on a planned new building in the estate, and on the landscaping in the new houses at the other end of the estate. Our thanks for the team behind the project at Wandsworth Council for sharing details of the planned works.