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City of London Audit Report Open Spaces and Recreation

Analysis of the spatial distribution of open spaces in the City of London, set within the context of the City of London Local Plan policies

Data as at 31 March 2019

Published by the City of London Corporation,

Department of the Built Environment,

April 2020

Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 6

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7

Open Spaces in the City of London ............................................................................................... 7

The Audit Series (2002-2017) .......................................................................................................... 7

Definition of Open Space for the Audit ........................................................................................ 7

Purpose of this Document............................................................................................................... 8

2. Policy Background ................................................................................................................... 9

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) ................................................................. 9

The London Plan .......................................................................................................................... 9

The City of London Local Plan ................................................................................................. 10

3. Open Space in the City of London ........................................................................................... 12

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 12

History of Open Space in the City of London ............................................................................ 12

Spatial Distribution of Open Space in the City of London ....................................................... 13

Spatial Distribution, Analysed by Key Area of Change ........................................................... 15

The Size of Open Spaces ................................................................................................................ 19

4. Typology ..................................................................................................................................... 21

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 21

Distribution by Typology .............................................................................................................. 21

Civic Spaces................................................................................................................................. 23

Parks and Gardens ..................................................................................................................... 27

Cemeteries and Churchyards ................................................................................................... 28

Amenity Spaces .......................................................................................................................... 31

Natural and Semi-Natural Green Spaces ................................................................................ 32

Local Green Corridors ............................................................................................................... 33

Provision for Children and Young People ............................................................................. 34

Outdoor Sports Facilities ........................................................................................................... 36

Allotments, Community Gardens and Urban Farms ............................................................ 37

5. Access to Open Space ................................................................................................................ 38

Types of Access to Open Space .................................................................................................... 38

Analysing Types of Public Access ............................................................................................... 39

Spatial analysis of the Type of Access ......................................................................................... 39

Inclusive Access .............................................................................................................................. 44

Assessment of Inclusive Access ............................................................................................... 44

Open Space with Inclusive Access ........................................................................................... 44

6. Biodiversity ................................................................................................................................. 46

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 46

Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) ............................................................. 46

Wildlife Habitats ............................................................................................................................ 49

Trees ................................................................................................................................................. 50

Contact Information ........................................................................................................................... 54

Tables of Figures Map 1: Open Spaces in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) .............................................. 14

Map 2: Public Access to Open Space in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) .................. 40

Map 3: Inclusive Access to Open Space in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) ............. 45

Map 4: SINCs in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) ......................................................... 48

Map 5: Trees in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) ........................................................... 51

Graph 1: Proportions of Open Space in the City of London, by Key Areas of Change and Other Monitoring Areas (as at 31 March 2019) .............................................................................. 16

Graph 2: Open Space Size Bands in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) ........................ 20

Graph 3: Open Space Typologies (as at 31 March 2019) ............................................................... 21

Graph 4: Public Access to Open Space in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) ............... 38

Graph 5: Distribution of Trees within Open Spaces in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019) ..................................................................................................................................................... 52

Graph 6: Proportion of Trees in the City of London by Typology (as at 31 March 2019) ........ 52

Table 1: Distribution of Open Space within the Key Areas of Change and Other Monitoring Areas (as at 31 March 2019) .............................................................................................................. 18

Table 2: The London Plan Open Space Hierarchy ......................................................................... 19

Table 3: Open Space analysed by Typology (as at 31 March 2019) ............................................. 22

Table 4: SINCs in the City of London .............................................................................................. 47

Picture 1: Aldgate Square .................................................................................................................. 23

Picture 2: Lime Street Square ............................................................................................................ 23

Picture 3: Bartholomew Close .......................................................................................................... 25

Picture 4: Sugar Quay Walk .............................................................................................................. 25

Picture 5: London Wall Place ............................................................................................................ 27

Picture 6: Festival Gardens, Cannon Street ..................................................................................... 27

Picture 7: St. Dunstan in the East Church Gardens, St. Dunstan’s Hill (Former Churchyard) .............................................................................................................................................................. 29

Picture 8: Ireland Yard (Former Burial Ground) ............................................................................ 29

Picture 9: Postman’s Park, King Edward Street (Green-Landscaped Churchyard) .................. 29

Picture 10: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate Churchyard, Great St. Helen’s (Hard-Landscaped Churchyard) ........................................................................................................................................ 29

Picture 11: Petticoat Square ............................................................................................................... 31

Picture 12: Barbican Estate ................................................................................................................ 31

Picture 13: Barbican Wildlife Garden, Fann Street ........................................................................ 32

Picture 14: Barbican Lake .................................................................................................................. 32

Picture 15: Lower Thames Street ...................................................................................................... 33

Picture 16: Noble Street ..................................................................................................................... 33

Picture 17: Sir John Cass Church of England School ..................................................................... 35

Picture 18: Guinness Court ............................................................................................................... 35

Picture 19: Tennis Courts at the Golden Lane Estate .................................................................... 36

Picture 20: Netball Court at St. Botolph-Without-Bishopsgate Churchyard ............................. 36

Picture 21: Smithfield Rotunda Garden (Publicly Accessible Open Space) ............................... 42

Picture 22: Broadgate Circle (Publicly Accessible Open Space) .................................................. 42

Picture 23: Barbican Estate ................................................................................................................ 49

Picture 24: St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard ........................................................... 49

Picture 25: Staple Inn ......................................................................................................................... 53

Executive Summary The City of London is a dense urban environment, which at 31 March 2019 contained 328,300m2 (32.83 hectares) of open space, primarily consisting of pocket parks, smaller than 1,000m2 (0.1 hectares). Approximately half of the City of London’s open space comprised Civic Spaces - hard-surfaced public areas with open space amenity.

The open space in the City of London primarily provided full public access (248,100m2, or 24.8 hectares).

The majority of open spaces in the City of London provided inclusive access (177,000m2, or 17.7 hectares).

The City of London contains ten designated Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) and three proposed SINCs. The City of London provided wildlife habitats, including bird feeders, water features, flowers and trees; a range of trees were subject to Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs).

1. Introduction Open Spaces in the City of London

The City of London is a world-leading financial and professional services centre and is thus one of the most densely-built up parts of London; it also contains many listed buildings. The City of London also has many small scale open spaces, including a range of civic spaces, gardens, cemeteries, churchyards, amenity spaces, and outdoor sport and recreation facilities, which provide respite for workers, residents and visitors to the City.

The City of London delivers new open space through redevelopment and City Public Realm projects; this includes the replacement of open space lost due to redevelopment works.

The Audit Series (2002-2019)

The City of London open spaces and recreation audit provides information on how the City of London meets the requirements of City of London Local Plan and Draft City Plan 2036 policies, setting out information regarding the distribution and characteristics of open space. The audit builds upon a historic audit series, developed in 2002; the City of London reviewed the audit series in 2007 and 2012.

The City of London undertook a full in 2017 in the context of Open Space Strategies: Best Practice Guidance, 2009 (published by the Mayor of London and CABE Space) which reflected Government guidance set out in Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) 17: Planning for Open Spaces, Sports and Recreation1 and its companion guide, Assessing Needs and Opportunities. All PPG documents were cancelled in 2012 by the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, updated February 2019); however, the general principles used in the 2002 and 2007 audits provided a sound framework for the 2012 and 2017 audits. The 2019 document provides an update to the statistics, incorporating changes that occurred between 1st April 2017 and 31 March 2019.

Definition of Open Space for the Audit

The City of London have used a consistent definition for the term ‘open space’ since the 2002 City of London Open Spaces Audit:

Land which is not built on which has some amenity value, or potential for amenity value. Amenity value is derived from the visual or other enjoyment which the open space can provide, such as historical interest and value.’

1 Source Green Infrastructure.

The audit evaluates all types of open spaces, irrespective of ownership or public access, but excludes:

• Sites less than 0.005 hectares (50m2) in area; • Private spaces with limited public benefit (e.g. no visual amenity) and • Sites where the primary purpose is vehicular movement.

The City of London contains a range of roof terraces and green roofs, which are analysed separately in the City of London Local Plan Monitoring Report – Roof Terraces and Green Roofs. However, some green roof terraces and green roofs provide open space amenity for the public, and are thus recorded in the open space and recreation audit; these include:

• Baynard House, 135 Queen Victoria Street; • highwalks at the Barbican residential estate, and • Exchange Square.

Purpose of this Document

The purpose of this document is to provide an audit of open spaces in the City of London, to provide an evidence base for the City Plan 2036, setting out – for the City of London’s open spaces – an analysis of:

• the total area (in hectares and square metres); • the spatial distribution by typology; • access to open space; and • biodiversity.

2. Policy Background The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The NPPF sets out planning policies for England:

• Paragraphs 91, 96 and 97 set out the need to provide and protect open spaces, and encourage sport and recreation provision;

• Paragraph 127 sets out the need to create inclusive open spaces; • Paragraph 174 sets out the need to ‘identify, map and safeguard components, local

wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks’ and ‘promote the conservation, restoration and enhancement of priority habitats’, and

• Paragraph 175 states that local planning authorities should refuse planning permission that will result in ‘loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats (such as ancient woodlands and ancient or veteran trees’).

The London Plan

The London Plan was published in March 2016:

• Policy 7.18 (Protecting open space and addressing deficiency) sets out the need to carry out open space audits within individual London boroughs;

• Policy 3.6 (Children and young people’s play and informal recreation) sets out the need to provide children’s play space and encourages local authorities to assess provision;

• Policy 3.19 (Sports facilities) encourages development proposals that enhance sports and recreation provision;

• Table 7.2 (Public open space categorisation) sets out a hierarchy of open spaces2, based on their spatial area, for the purpose of allowing boroughs to identify areas of deficiency (see Section 3 for more details);

• Policy 7.5 (Public realm) encourages accessible open spaces; • Policy 7.19 (Biodiversity and access to nature) encourages development to make a

positive contribution to biodiversity; • Policy 7.21 (Trees and woodlands) sets out the need to retain ‘trees of value’ and • Policy 7.22 (Land for food) sets out the need to protect allotments.

2 This is also set out in Table 8.1 (Public open space categorisation) of the Draft London Plan.

The Draft London Plan (published September 2018):

• Policy S4 (Play and informal recreation) encourages local authorities to undertake audits for play and recreation provision aimed at children and young people;

• Policy S5 (Sports and recreation facilities) encourages local authorities to ‘secure sites for a range of sports and recreation facilities’;

• Policy G4 (Open space) addresses the need to protect open space, and supports the creation of new areas of publicly accessible open space;

• Policy G6 (Biodiversity and access to nature) encourages protecting of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) and identifying where there are deficiencies in access to nature;

• Policy G7 (Trees and woodlands) sets out the need to protect London’s urban forest and woodlands, and plant new trees where necessary, and

• Policy G8 (Food growing) encourages protection of allotments.

The City of London Local Plan

The City of London Local Plan (adopted January 2015) sets out the policy context for the City of London:

• Policy DM 10.8 sets guidelines for providing access to all members of the community, including people with disabilities;

• Policy DM 12.1 (Managing change affecting all heritage assets and spaces) sets out that the City of London will resist the loss of open spaces that are of historic interest;

• Policy CS19 (Open Spaces and Recreation) encourages improving access to open space and facilities; the policy also sets out the importance of improving access and increasing the biodiversity value of open space, including protecting the amenity value of trees;

• Policy DM19.2 (Biodiversity and urban greening) encourages biodiversity and maintenance of habitat within Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation;

• Policy DM19.3 (Sport and recreation) sets out the need to resist the loss of sports and recreation facilities, and

• Policy DM19.4 (Play areas and facilities) sets out the City of London’s intentions to protect and enhance play provision.

The City Plan 2036 (published March 2020):

• Policy HL1 (Inclusive buildings and spaces) sets guidelines for providing access to all members of the community, including people with disabilities;

• Policy HL7 (Sport and recreation) sets out the need to protect existing sport and recreation facilities, and encourages new provision;

• Policy HL8 (Play areas and facilities) sets out the City of London’s intention to protect and replace play provision, and to provide additional facilities alongside major residential developments;

• Policy S14 (Open Spaces and Green Infrastructure) sets out the City Corporation’s intention to protect existing open and green space, while seeking additional open space, and improving public access to open space, and

• Policy OS3 (Biodiversity) sets out the need for retaining habitats within the SINCs and encourages tree planting.

3. Open Space in the City of London Introduction

This section analyses open space in the City of London in terms of:

• historical context; • spatial distribution and • analysis of the size of spaces.

History of Open Space in the City of London

Since the Roman era, the City of London has primarily comprised of an intensely-developed ‘city centre’ environment, with limited open space provision. Open space in the City of London has developed over several key phases:

• Cemeteries and churchyards (12th to 19th Centuries): The City of London has historically contained a large number of churches (recorded as far back as the 12th

Century) with ancillary cemeteries and churchyards; while some of the churches no longer exist, the associated open spaces remain intact3;

• The Great Fire of London (1666): The Great Fire of London caused devastation throughout the Square Mile and necessitated large-scale demolition of buildings, to stop the fire spreading, resulting in several open spaces;

• Bomb devastation (20th and 21st Centuries): This included: o The Blitz: The Barbican Estate and its open spaces, and St. Dunstan-in-the-

East Churchyard are on sites devastated by wartime bombings, and o The 1992 St. Mary Axe bombing: The site was redeveloped to create 30 St.

Mary Axe and the adjacent open space; • Creation of space providing walking routes and open space amenity (20th and 21st

centuries): During the 20th and 21st centuries, a number of pedestrian routes, which also provide open space amenity, were constructed in the City of London, most notably the highwalk system at the Barbican residential estate, and the riverside walkway, and

• City Public Realm projects (21st Century): City Public Realm projects on areas of underused street space (e.g. Plough Place, Holborn Circus, John Carpenter Street and Middlesex Street) have created small-scale open spaces.

3 Section 4 of this document analyses cemetery and churchyard sites in detail.

Spatial Distribution of Open Space in the City of London

As at 31 March 2019:

• the City of London contained approximately 328,300m2 (32.8 hectares) of open space, not including sites temporarily closed due to redevelopment works, and

• a range of new open spaces were under construction as part of redevelopment schemes; the City of London Local Plan Monitoring Report – Open Spaces and Recreation sets out full details.

Map 1 shows the spatial distribution of open space in the City of London, as at 31 March 2019.

Open spaces were found throughout the City of London, but were mostly concentrated at:

• the western area, particularly at the Temples, and • the northern area, which includes a significant cluster of open spaces adjacent to the

Golden Lane and Barbican residential estates.

Smaller clusters of open spaces are located adjacent to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Middlesex Street residential estate.

The map includes reference to:

• the distribution within the seven Key Areas of Change and other monitoring areas (these are explained below) and

• open space typologies (see Section 4).

Spatial data can be viewed through the City of London’s interactive mapping, and data files accessed through the City of London pages at data.gov.uk.

Map 1: Open Spaces in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

Spatial Distribution, Analysed by Key Area of Change

Paragraph 7.1.1 of the Draft City Plan 2036 sets out seven Key Areas of Change, areas that: ‘…are likely to experience significant change over the Plan period and present particular opportunities or challenges that warrants a specific policy focus.’

The Key Areas of Change are:

• Blackfriars; • Pool of London; • Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken; • City Cluster; • Fleet Street and Ludgate; • Smithfield and Barbican; and • Liverpool Street.

The City of London have also identified eight other monitoring areas, at:

• Bank; • Central Riverside; • City Central; • City North-East; • City South-East; • Holborn; • St. Paul’s, and • Temples/Whitefriars.

Map 1 includes the spatial extent of the Key Areas of Change; Graph 1 shows the proportions of the total open space within the individual Key Areas of Change, as at 31

March 2019. Table 1 sets out detailed statistics, and commentary regarding distribution within individual Key Areas of Change and other monitoring areas.

Open Spaces and Recreation

Graph 1: Proportions of Open Space in the City of London, by Key Areas of Change and Other Monitoring Areas (as at 31 March 2019)

Location Key Area of Change and Other

Monitoring Areas

Total Open Space (Square metres)

Distribution

Blackfriars Key Area of Change 9,550 Sporadic distribution, including parts of the Riverside Walkway, and playgrounds at the City of London School for Boys.

Pool of London Key Area of Change 11,000 Small open spaces in the west, and a large open space (Tower Place) in the east; also, parts of the Riverside Walk.

Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken

Key Area of Change 13,000 Clusters of open space at the western end of Aldgate High Street, the two housing estates, at Middlesex Street and Mansell Street, and the southern area near Tower Hill.

City Cluster Key Area of Change 13,700 A range of open spaces in the central area, constructed as part of major redevelopment schemes, e.g.: 30 St. Mary Axe, the Leadenhall Building, 122 Leadenhall Street, and 51 Lime Street.

Fleet Street and Ludgate

Key Area of Change

11,900 Sporadic distribution of primarily small open spaces in the western area, including Kings College Maughan Library, located towards the west. Slightly denser concentration of open spaces towards the east, primarily at St. Paul’s Churchyard.

Smithfield and Barbican

Key Area of Change 98,400 Small open spaces adjacent to Smithfield Market and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, in the west, dense clusters of larger open spaces in the east adjacent to the Golden Lane and Barbican residential estates.

Liverpool Street Key Area of Change

26,000 A range of open spaces in the Broadgate Estate towards the north, and a cluster of smaller open spaces around St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard, located in the south.

Open Spaces and Recreation

Location Key Area of Change and Other

Monitoring Areas

Total Open Space (Square metres)

Distribution

Bank Other Monitoring Area

9,800 Primarily small open spaces, located sporadically, due to the densely built-up surroundings, but one large open space at Finsbury Circus Gardens4, in the north.

Central Riverside Other Monitoring Area

14,200 A range of smaller open spaces, primarily in concentrations towards the north, and parts of the Riverside Walk.

City Central Other Monitoring Area

22,400 A cluster of medium spaces to the north, including several churchyard sites.

City North-East Other Monitoring Area

11,000 A cluster of open spaces at Cutlers’ Gardens, a modern mixed-use development; this monitoring area is otherwise dominated by large office buildings.

City South-East Other Monitoring Area

12,300 A sporadic distribution of open spaces, primarily in the west and central areas.

Holborn Other Monitoring Area

9,900 A sporadic distribution of small and medium open spaces.

St. Paul’s Other Monitoring Area

33,700 Clustered primarily around the cathedral, with a sporadic distribution of medium open spaces towards the north, and small open spaces towards the west.

Temples/Whitefriars Other Monitoring Area

31,200 Primarily within the Temples district, located in the west, including large open spaces at the Temple Gardens.

Table 1: Distribution of Open Space within the Key Areas of Change and Other Monitoring Areas (as at 31 March 2019)

4 As at 31 March 2019, Finsbury Circus Gardens were partially closed to facilitate construction of the Elizabeth Line.

The Size of Open Spaces

Table 2 sets out details of the London Plan open space hierarchy. Open Space Categorisation

Size Guideline Distance from Homes

Located in the City of London

Regional Parks 400 hectares or greater

3.2 to 8 km No

Metropolitan Parks 60 to 400 hectares 3.2 km No

District Parks 20 to 60 hectares 1.2 km No

Local Parks and Open Spaces

2 to 20 hectares 400m No

Small Open Spaces 0.4 to 2 hectares Less than 400m Yes

Pocket Parks Less than 0.4 hectares

Less than 400m Yes

Linear Open Spaces N/A N/A Yes

Table 2: The London Plan Open Space Hierarchy5

As at 31 March 2019, all open spaces in the City of London were smaller than 2 hectares (20,000m2). This is due to the City of London’s historic densely built-up nature, and the number of listed buildings, which constrain the development of larger open spaces. Thus, the City of London open spaces audit focuses on analysing the types of open space detailed below (descriptions are as Table 8.1 (Public open space categorisation) of the Draft London Plan sets out):

• Small Open Spaces: Public gardens, sitting out areas, children’s play spaces or other areas of a • specialist nature, including nature conservation areas. • Pocket Parks: Small areas of open space that provide natural surfaces and shaded areas for informal

play and passive recreation that sometimes have seating and play equipment. • Linear Open Spaces: Open spaces and towpaths alongside the Thames, canals and other

waterways, paths, disused railways, nature conservation areas and other routes that provide opportunities for informal recreation. They are often characterised by features or attractive areas that are not fully accessible to the public but contribute to the enjoyment of space

5 Source: London Plan (2016) and Draft London Plan (2018).

Graph 2: Open Space Size Bands in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

Graph 2 sets out open space size bands in the City of London, as at 31 March 2019. This shows a generally inverse relationship between the size of open spaces and the number of open spaces. Thus, most open spaces in the City of London are ‘pocket parks’, with only a few ‘small open spaces’ and ‘linear open spaces’.

The majority of open spaces (180) are below 250m2 (0.025 hectares) in area; 401 open spaces are smaller than 1,000m2 (0.1 hectares). Just seven open spaces are larger than 4,000m2 (0.4 hectares).

This is a profile of small open spaces, when compared to the larger parks and heathlands found in other London Boroughs and the City of Westminster.

4. Typology Introduction

The open spaces and recreation audit uses the typology classification listed in this document to provide an assessment of the type of open space provided and its utility. This section defines all individual typologies and assesses their spatial distribution within the City of London.

Distribution by Typology

• Graph 3 shows the proportion of open space by typology; • Table 3 sets out detailed statistics, including distribution within the Key Areas of

Change and other monitoring areas, and • Map 1 sets out the distribution of open space by typology.

Graph 3: Open Space Typologies (as at 31 March 2019)

Open Spaces by Typology Key areas of change Blackfriars – Liverpool Street, Other monitoring areas Bank-Temples and Whitefriars m2 unless otherwise stated

KAOC / Other Monitoring Areas

All Open Space

Percentage of City

total

Primary Civic

Spaces

Secondary Civic

Spaces

Parks and

Gardens

Cemeteries and

Churchyards

Amenity Spaces

Natural and Semi-

Natural Green Spaces

Local Green

Corridors

Provision for Children

and Young People

Outdoor Sports

Facilities

Allotments, Community Gardens and Urban Farms

Blackfriars 9,553 2.9 985 3062 0 161 0 0 1956 3389 0 0 Pool of London 11,077 3.4 4394 4711 468 846 0 0 658 0 0 0 Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken 13,016 4.0 4010 1277 2365 930 574 0 829 3031 0 0 City Cluster 13,661 4.2 10084 2046 0 1225 306 0 0 0 0 0 Fleet Street and Ludgate 11,897 3.6 2533 4073 2498 1885 908 0 0 0 0 0 Smithfield and Barbican 98,393 30.0 4949 32690 9744 7220 18966 12696 5955 1435 4519 221 Liverpool Street 25,990 7.9 13285 9275 0 2310 0 0 48 0 1071 0 Bank 9,831 3.0 2672 1567 2458 2345 711 0 78 0 0 0 Central Riverside 14,220 4.3 910 7820 2154 1619 1611 0 105 0 0 0 City Central 22,355 6.8 6769 6441 1506 6122 697 81 738 0 0 0 City North East 11,028 3.4 4263 5204 942 511 108 0 0 0 0 0 City South East 12,348 3.8 1418 5568 1165 2912 1276 0 10 0 0 0 Holborn 9,923 3.0 3763 2499 1197 1566 898 0 0 0 0 0 St Paul's 33,657 10.3 5323 9838 6854 10354 0 0 543 745 0 0 Temples / Whitefriars 31,228 9.5 756 6796 22360 625 691 0 0 0 0 0 City of London Total 328,177 100 66,114 102,868 53,710 40,631 26,747 12,777 10,921 8,600 5,589 221

Table 3: Open Space analysed by Typology (as at 31 March 2019)

Civic Spaces Civic and market squares, and other hard-surfaced areas designed for pedestrians. Providing a setting for civic buildings, public demonstrations and community events.

Civic spaces are primarily located within built-up sites, with predominantly hard landscaping, and comprise public squares, courtyards and piazzas. As at 31 March 2019, the City of London contained 168,800m2 (16.9 hectares) of civic space; this accounted for half of the total open space.

The open spaces audit sub-divides this classification into primary and secondary civic spaces. Primary Civic Spaces

Includes civic and market squares and other surfaces designed for pedestrians, with open space amenity. As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 66,100m2 (6.6 hectares) of primary civic space, accounting for 20.1% of open space in the City of London.

In the Key Areas of Change:

• Pool of London contained one large primary civic space, Tower Place, in the east; • Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken contained primary civic spaces and Aldgate High

Street, most significantly Aldgate Square (Picture 1) which was completed during the 2018/19 period;

• City Cluster contained large primary civic spaces at St. Mary Axe and Lime Street Square (Picture 2) constructed as part of major redevelopment schemes;

Picture 1: Aldgate Square Picture 2: Lime Street Square

• Fleet Street and Ludgate had small primary civic spaces towards the west, at Gough Square and Hind Court, and larger sites toward the east, at New Ludgate Place and St. Paul’s Churchyard;

• Liverpool Street contained large primary civic spaces at Finsbury Avenue, Broadgate Plaza and Exchange Square; as with City Cluster, these were constructed as part of major 20th and 21st century redevelopment schemes, and

• very few primary civic spaces were located in Blackfriars and Smithfield and Barbican, with small open spaces at Baynard House and Salisbury Square, and medium open spaces at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and the Barbican Lakeside Terrace.

Most other monitoring areas contained a sporadic distribution of small primary civic spaces; the most notable were:

• Guildhall Yard, located in City Central; • Cutlers Gardens, located in City North-East; • a range of medium open spaces, including Staple Inn and New Street Square, in

Holborn, and • Paternoster Square, and parts of the cathedral churchyard, in St. Paul’s.

Secondary Civic Spaces

Pedestrian movement facilities with open space amenity Secondary civic spaces are frequently delivered through City Public Realm schemes as pedestrian routes that provide open space amenity.

Although their primary purpose is pedestrian movement, secondary civic spaces provide open space amenity, usually through the provision of seating and landscaping. These include a mixture of:

• ‘traditional’ street spaces where vehicular access has been removed, to create pedestrian-friendly environments with open space amenity; one example is at Bartholomew Close (Picture 3) and

• other walkways, including walkways adjacent to the River Thames, and elevated pedestrian routes (highwalks).

As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 102,900m2 (10.3 hectares) of secondary civic space, primarily located on pedestrian routes; this accounted for 31.3% of open space within the City of London.

In the Key Areas of Change:

• the Riverside Walk, which follows most of the northern Thames riverside, extends through Blackfriars and Pool of London (Picture 4 shows Sugar Quay Walk, reopened in 2019). The City of London’s Riverside Walk Enhancement Strategy (published January 2015) sets out the City Corporation’s intentions to extend the Riverside Walk between Broken Wharf and Queenhithe;

• Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken and City Cluster contained only small secondary civic spaces; examples included Artizan Street, Aldgate Avenue, Lime Street Square and St. Bride’s Passage;

Picture 3: Bartholomew Close Picture 4: Sugar Quay Walk

• Fleet Street and Ludgate contained medium-sized secondary civic spaces, including St. Bride Street and St. Paul’s Churchyard;

• Smithfield and Barbican contained large secondary civic spaces at the Golden Lane and Barbican residential estates, and

• Liverpool Street contained a large secondary civic space at Broadgate Circle.

Secondary civic spaces were located sporadically in most other monitoring areas, with a range of medium scale sites located at:

• Cutlers’ Gardens and Devonshire Square, in City North-East; • Minster Court, in City South-East; • Land adjacent to Paternoster Square and the cathedral, in St. Paul’s, and • Fountain Court and Church Court, in Temples/Whitefriars.

Parks and Gardens

Accessible, high-quality opportunities for informal recreation and community events

In contrast to civic spaces, parks and gardens comprise soft-landscaped sites, with primarily green infrastructure.

As at 31 March 2019, parks and gardens in the City of London accounted for 53,700m2 (5.4 hectares) of open space, 16.4% of open space in the City of London.

In the Key Areas of Change, the Pool of London, Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken, and Fleet Street and Ludgate contained small and medium parks and gardens, including:

• King George’s Field; • Tower Hill Gardens; • King’s College Maughan Library; and • Fish Wharf.

Parks and gardens at Smithfield and Barbican were primarily concentrated at London Wall, including the Barber Surgeon’s Hall Garden, and London Wall Place (Picture 5, completed during the 2017/18 period). No parks and gardens sites were located in Blackfriars, City Cluster and Liverpool Street, which were dominated by office buildings and hard-surfaced open spaces.

Parks and gardens were located sparsely within other monitoring areas, with none in the central area, which is densely built; exceptions included:

• Finsbury Circus Gardens, in Bank; • Gardens adjacent to St. Paul’s Cathedral (including Festival Gardens, Cannon Street

– Picture 6) and • Large sites (Middle and Inner Temple Gardens) at Temples/Whitefriars.

Picture 5: London Wall Place Picture 6: Festival Gardens Cannon Street

Cemeteries and Churchyards Quiet contemplation and burial of the dead often linked to the promotion of wildlife conservation and biodiversity.

In accordance with the Disused Burial Grounds (Amendment) Act 1981, the City of London’s cemeteries and churchyards are no longer used for burials. The Diocese of London own all cemetery and churchyard sites in the City of London, and the City Corporation are required to consult them regarding management issues. In terms of provision of amenity to the public, the City of London includes three types of cemetery and churchyard sites:

• sites associated with active churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral;• former church sites; for example, the churchyards of St. Mary, Aldermanbury, and

St. Dunstan in the East, St. Dunstan’s Hill (Picture 7) destroyed during World War II,where the land within the church ruins has been landscaped to form part of the openspace, and

• sites formerly used as burial grounds, but which have been opened to the public asopen space as the result of an agreement between the City Corporation and theDiocese of London; examples of where this has happened are Ireland Yard (Picture8) and the site of St. Gabriel Fenchurch, Fen Court.

Some cemetery and churchyard sites in the City of London have intact gravestones; examples include Ireland Yard, and Postman’s Park, King Edward Street.

The amenity value of cemeteries and churchyard varies greatly; in terms of landscaping, sites include:

• soft-landscaped green spaces with similar characteristics to parks and gardens (e.g.Postman’s Park, King Edward Street – Picture 9 – and St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard) and

• hard-landscaped spaces (e.g. Bow Churchyard and St. Helen’s BishopsgateChurchyard, Great St. Helen’s – Picture 10).

As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 40,600m2 (4 hectares) of cemetery and churchyard sites; this accounted for 12.4% of open space in the City of London. These were distributed evenly throughout the City of London, except for areas in the north of the City, which were redeveloped during the 1960s and later.

Picture 7 St Dunstan's in the East Gardens former churchyard

In the Key Areas of Change:

• City Cluster contained a sporadic distribution of small cemetery and churchyardsites, including the churchyards of St. Ethelburga’s and St. Helen’s, and Fen Court;

• Fleet Street and Ludgate contained cemetery and churchyard sites at St. Bride’sChurchyard, St. Bride’s Avenue, and St-Martin-within-Ludgate Churchyard,Ludgate Hill;

• Smithfield and Barbican contained small churchyards at St. Bartholomew the Lessand St. Bartholomew the Great, and a cluster of small and medium-sized churchyardsites adjacent to the Barbican residential estate, most significantly St. Giles’Churchyard, and

• the other Key Areas of Change contained only one or two small cemetery andchurchyard sites, located in fringe areas.

Picture 9 Postman's Park green landscaped churchyard Picture 10 St Helen's Bishopsgate hard landscaped churchyard

Picture 8 Ireland Yard former burial ground

Within other monitoring areas, clusters of small churchyards were located:

• in the southern area of Bank, and• sporadically within City Central, primarily in the north-west area (including the

churchyards of St. Olave Silver Street and St. Anne and St. Agnes, and the formerchurchyard of St. Mary Aldermanbury.

Larger churchyard sites included:

• the former site of St. Dunstan-in-the-East, in City South-East, and• St. Paul’s Cathedral Churchyard.

Amenity Spaces

Opportunities for informal activities close to home or work or enhancement of the appearance of residential or other areas.

For the purposes of the audit, this typology primarily comprises shared gardens, located within residential estates, designed specifically for the enjoyment of residents. Other spaces of this type are ancillary to public buildings, and the City’s livery halls.

As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 26,800m2 (2.7 hectares) of amenity space20; this accounted for 8.2% of open space in the City of London.

In the Key Areas of Change:

• Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken contained a medium amenity space at PetticoatSquare (Picture 11) located to the north, within the Middlesex Street residentialestate;

• Fleet Street and Ludgate contained small amenity spaces, associated with office,hotel and residential uses, including 2 Bridewell Place and The Old Deanery, Dean’sCourt;

• Smithfield and Barbican contained medium and large amenity spaces, used byresidents, at Golden Lane and Barbican residential estates (Picture 12 shows aresidents’ garden at the Barbican Estate) and

• other Key Areas of Change contained no amenity spaces.

Small amenity spaces were located sporadically within other monitoring areas, including a cluster at Central Riverside.

20 While PPG17 refers to ‘amenity greenspace’, the City of London open spaces audit uses the term ‘amenity space’ to include all sites where access is restricted to residential estates and livery halls, including those that are primarily hard-surfaced.

Picture 11 Petticoat Square Picture 12 Barbican Estate

Natural and Semi-Natural Green Spaces

Wildlife conservation, biodiversity, environmental education and activities

These sites contribute to biodiversity and are intended primarily as natural habitats; for more information regarding biodiversity in the City, see Section 6 of this report.

As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 12,800m2 (1.3 hectares) of natural and semi- natural green spaces; this accounted for 3.9% of open space in the City of London.

All natural and semi-natural greenspaces in the City of London were located in the Key Area of Change of Smithfield and Barbican; these include the Barbican Wildlife Garden, Fann Street (Picture 13) and the artificial lakes within the Barbican Estate (Picture 14).

Picture 13 Barbican Wildlife Garden Figure 1 Picture 14 Barbican Lake

Local Green Corridors Walking, cycling … whether for leisure purposes or travel and opportunities for wildlife migration.

In the context of the City of London open spaces and recreation audit, this definition refers to green areas primarily used for planting, which provide visual amenity.

As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 10,900m2 (1.1 hectares) of local green corridors; this accounted for 3.3% of open space in the City of London.

Within the Key Areas of Change, local green corridors were located at:

• the major road junction at Blackfriars Station;• Lower Thames Street (Picture 15) and Dark House Walk in Pool of London;• the residential estates within Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken, and• the Barbican Estate highwalks, within Smithfield and Barbican.

No local green corridors were situated within City Cluster and Liverpool Street, which are densely built-up, and Fleet Street and Ludgate, which is partially within Fleet Street Conservation Area; thus there are limited opportunities for urban greening.

Within other monitoring areas, one local green corridor was located at Noble Street (Picture 16) on the site of the original London Wall, to the north-west of City Central.

Picture 15 Lower Thames Street 1 Picture 16 Noble Street 1

Provision for Children and Young People Areas designed primarily for play and social interaction involving children and young people, such as equipped play areas, ball courts, skateboard areas and teenage shelters.

This includes school playgrounds and recreational areas designed for use by children and teenagers.

The Mayor of London’s Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) Shaping Neighbourhoods: Play and Informal Recreation (published September 2012) gives further guidance (see Paragraphs 3.23 and 3.24).

Play sites are required in areas where young people are located; these are:

• housing locations where families with children live (in the City of London, this isprimarily concentrated in the Barbican, Golden Lane, Middlesex Street and MansellStreet estates); more details regarding household composition within the City’sresidential areas are provided in the City of London’s Census reports21, and

• schools, many of which are situated close to residential estates where families withchildren live.

Provision for children and young people in the City of London mostly comprises:

• Play areas, including basketball courts, and• School playground facilities.

As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 8,600m2 (0.8 hectares) of open space provision for children and young people; this accounted for 2.6% of the total open space.

21 The most recent Census data is from 2011.

Picture 17 Sir John Cass CofE school

In the Key Areas of Change:

• Blackfriars contained medium-sized playgrounds at the City of London School forBoys, 107 Queen Victoria Street;

• Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken contained play facilities at Sir John Cass Church ofEngland School, St. James’s Passage (Picture 17, the two residential estates (e.g.Guinness Court, Mansell Street – Picture 18) and King George’s Field;

• Smithfield and Barbican contained small play sites towards the east within theGolden Lane and Barbican residential estates, including residents’ play areas andschool playgrounds, and

• no play spaces were located within Pool of London, City Cluster, Fleet Street andLudgate, and Liverpool Street.

Within other monitoring areas, two playgrounds22 were located at St. Paul’s Cathedral School, 2 New Change.

22 As at 31 March 2019, one of the playground areas was closed, due to construction works.

Picture 18 Guinness Court

Outdoor Sports Facilities Participation in outdoor sports, such as pitch sports, tennis, bowls, athletics or countryside or water sports.

This includes any space set out for the purpose of outdoor sporting activities, not including those designed for children and young people.

Because of the densely built-up nature of the City of London, opportunities to provide outdoor sports are very limited. As at 31 March 2019, the City of London had 5,600m2 (0.6 hectares) of outdoor sports provision; this accounted for 1.7% of open space in the City of London

In the Key Areas of Change:

• Smithfield and Barbican, had outdoor sports facilities including tennis courts at theGolden Lane Leisure Centre (Picture 19) and a range of facilities within the Barbicanresidential estate, and

• two outdoor sports facilities were located in Liverpool Street, including the seasonalinstallation of an ice rink at Exchange Square, and a netball court (Picture 20) at St.Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard.

No outdoor sports facilities were located in other Key Areas of Change, or other monitoring areas.

Picture 19 Golden Lane Estate, tennis courts Picture 20 St Botolph without Bishopsgate former churchyard, netball court

Allotments, Community Gardens and Urban Farms Opportunities for those people who wish to do so to grow their own produce as part of the long-term promotion of sustainability, health and social inclusion. Open countryside located on the boundary of an urban area. These sites comprise communal allotment gardens, associated with a residential area, which provide opportunities for growing of vegetables, thereby setting spaces of this type apart from amenity spaces, which are used primarily for informal recreation. This category also includes urban farms, used for rearing livestock.

The City of London includes just 200m2 (0.02 hectares) of open space within this typology, accounting for less than 1% of the total; this was Golden Baggers Allotment, at the Golden Lane Estate (within Smithfield and Barbican).

5. Access to Open SpaceTypes of Access to Open Space

This section assesses:

• how open space is utilised by the public in terms of distribution of publiclyaccessible open space, and

• inclusive access to open space.

In terms of assessing public access, the City of London uses three categories:

Open: The open space has full public access23. Restricted: The open space is restricted to use by residents of a housing estate, or the public have access only at limited times of the year. Closed: The open space is inaccessible to the public (this includes private churchyards and planting areas that provide only visual amenity)

Graph 4: Public Access to Open Space in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

23 Some open spaces provide full public access but are closed at night for security reasons; however, the principle is that the public will have access at least during daylight hours.

Analysing Types of Public Access

Graph 4 shows the proportions of the total open space, analysed by public access. This shows that, as at 31 March 2019, the majority of open space (248,100m2, or 24.8 hectares) in the City of London was open to full public access, accounting for 75.6% of open space.

The remainder of the open space in the City of London comprised:

• 17,100m2 (1.7 hectares) with restricted access, associated primarily within residentialestates, accounting for 5.2% of open space in the City of London and

• 63,100m2 (6.3 hectares) with no public access, providing only visual amenity; thisincludes semi-natural features and planting areas, as well as private open spaces,accounting for 19.2% of open space in the City of London.

Spatial analysis of the Type of Access

Map 2 illustrates the distribution of open spaces by public access type, as at 31 March 2019. Sites with full public access were distributed evenly throughout the City, except for the central areas (around the Bank of England and Lombard Street) which was more densely built up.

Open spaces with full public access were primarily located in areas where:

• there was a high residential population within close proximity, or• there was a high daytime population (e.g. visitors and workers); for example, St.

Paul’s Cathedral and areas with high levels of office floorspace, e.g. the BroadgateEstate.

Map 2: Public Access to Open Space in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

Open Spaces with Public Access

As at 31 March 2019, within the Key Areas of Change:

• public open spaces at Blackfriars were primarily located adjacent to the RiverThames, including the Riverside Walkway;

• most open space at Pool of London was public, providing facilities for workers andvisitors;

• Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken contained a small number of public open spaces,located sporadically; many open spaces in this Key Areas of Change were primarilyfor the enjoyment of residents, and were thus not publicly accessible;

• City Cluster contained large public open spaces in the central area, likely to be usedas lunchtime spots by workers;

• Fleet Street and Ludgate contained a range of public open spaces, in sporadiclocations, including King’s College Maughan Library Garden, Chancery Lane; St.Bride’s Churchyard, Bride Lane and St. Paul’s Churchyard;

• at Smithfield and Barbican, there were two clusters of public open space:o at West Smithfield, including the rotunda garden (Picture 21) and the courtyard

at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, ando clusters of large public open spaces at the Golden Lane and Barbican residential

estates, including provision on adjacent sites (e.g. Barber Surgeon’s Hall andLondon Wall Place), and

• as with Pool of London, most public open space at Liverpool Street was public; thisincludes the large open spaces at the Broadgate Estate (e.g. Broadgate Circle, Picture22), and St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard.

Within other monitoring areas:

• Bank contained a large public space at Finsbury Circus, and a cluster of publicspaces near Cornhill, including land at the Royal Exchange;

• Central Riverside contained a range of small public open spaces towards the north- west, including the garden at Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, ClearyGardens and Whittington Gardens, and sections of the Riverside Walk, to the south;

• City Central contained a cluster of medium-sized public open spaces towards thenorth, but also a cluster of small public open spaces at Bloomberg Place (completedduring the 2017/18 period);

• City North-East contained a cluster of public open spaces at Devonshire Square andCutlers’ Gardens;

• City South-East contained a sporadic distribution of public open spaces, except inthe eastern area; the largest public open spaces were Seething Gardens and St.Dunstan-in-the-East Churchyard;

• Holborn contained a sporadic distribution of small public open spaces, including thegardens at Holborn Circus, and New Street Square;

• St. Paul’s included a large concentration of public open spaces around the cathedral,and medium-sized open spaces at Fleet Place, located in the north-east; and

• Temples/Whitefriars included a cluster of public open spaces at the Temples district;the largest is Inner Temple Garden.

Restricted Open Spaces

Restricted open spaces are primarily associated with residential areas and legal chambers, comprising shared gardens and other amenities.

As at 31 March 2019, within the Key Areas of Change:

• no restricted open spaces were located in Blackfriars, City Cluster, and Fleet Streetand Ludgate, which contained very low levels of housing.

• One small open space with access restricted to residents were located in Pool ofLondon; this was the residents’ garden at Sugar Quay, 1 Water Lane.

• the two residential estates in Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken contained open spaceswith access restricted to residents;

• Smithfield and Barbican contained restricted open spaces at the two residentialestates and adjacent to a cluster of housing units at Crosse Keys Square; and

• the netball court at St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard, within LiverpoolStreet, was restricted to groups with prior booking.

One large restricted open space was located in the other monitoring areas; this was Middle Temple Garden, located at Temples/Whitefriars, which has public access only at limited times.

Picture 21 Smithfield Rotunda publicly accessible open space

Picture 22 Broadgate Circle publicly accessible open space

Open Spaces with No Public Access

As with restricted open spaces, open spaces with no public access are often found around areas with clusters of housing, and where business activity and visitor numbers are lower. This category includes school sites and sites provided for the purpose of visual amenity, rather than access.

As at 31 March 2019, within the Key Areas of Change:

• Blackfriars had medium-sized open spaces with no public access, at the City ofLondon School for Boys, 107 Queen Victoria Street;

• open spaces with no public access at Pool of London comprised planting featuresthat provided only visual amenity;

• Aldgate, Tower and Portsoken contained a medium-sized open space with noaccess, located adjacent to Guinness Court;

• City Cluster had some small open spaces towards the north, associated withreligious buildings, including St. Helen’s Bishopsgate and Bevis Marks Synagogue;

• Fleet Street and Ludgate contained a sporadic distribution of open spaces with nopublic access, including Serjeant’s Inn, part of St. Bride’s Churchyard, Bride Lane andSt. Martin-within-Ludgate Churchyard;

• open spaces at Smithfield and Barbican with no public access included:o private open spaces at Haberdasher’s Hall, 18 West Smithfield, and the Museum

of London, London Wall ando natural and semi-natural green spaces, including the wildlife garden and lake at

the Barbican Estate, which provided only visual amenity, and• Liverpool Street had small open spaces with no public access, associated with St.

Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, to the south.

Other monitoring areas contained small open spaces with no public access, most notably a cluster of open spaces in Central Riverside, ancillary to churches and livery halls.

Inclusive Access Assessment of Inclusive Access

For the purpose of evaluating inclusive design in open spaces, this report uses principles set out in Building Regulations 2010 Approved Document M, Volume 2 (Buildings Other Than Dwellings).

This section analyses access only for open spaces that provide full or restricted access.

Open Space with Inclusive Access

Table 4 shows the total open space with inclusive access in the City of London, as at 31 March 2019. Open space is defined as having ‘full access’ when it provides full or restricted access as set out above:

• Most open space in the City of London had inclusive access (176,600m2, or 17.7hectares); this accounted for 66.6% of open space in the City of London;

• A relatively high amount of open space had an access 1.5m or wider, but no level orramped access (54,600m2, or 5.5 hectares); this accounted for 20.6% of open space inthe City of London;

• Just 18,700m2 (1.9 hectares) of open space had level or ramped access, which wasnarrower than 1.5m; this accounted for 7.1% of open spaces in the City of London,and

• The remaining 15,300m2 (1.5 hectares) did not provide inclusive access; thisaccounted for 5.8% of open space in the City of London.Access 1.5m or Wider

Level or ramped access Yes Total hectares

Level or ramped access Yes %

Level or ramped access No Total hectares

Level or ramped access No %

Total open space hectares

Total open space %

Yes 17.7 66.6 5.5 20.6 23.1 87.2 No 1.9 7.1 1.5 5.8 3.4 12.8 Total 19.5 73.6 7 26.4 26.5 100

Table 4: Inclusive Access to Open Space (as at 31 March 2019)

Map 3 shows the location of open spaces with inclusive access, as at 31 March 2019.

Map 3: Inclusive Access to Open Space in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

6. BiodiversityIntroduction

This section analyses:

• the City of London’s Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs);• wildlife habitats, and• tree distribution.

Two documents set out further policies for enhancing biodiversity in the City of London:

• The Government document Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England's wildlife andecosystem services (published 2012);

• The City of London Biodiversity Action Plan 2016-2020.

Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs)

Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) are open spaces designated specifically because of their nature and wildlife conservation value.

In the City of London there are three classifications for SINCs:

• Sites of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation;• Sites of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, and• Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.

As at 31 March 2019, ten designated SINCs were located within the City of London; Map 4 shows the spatial locations and Table 2 lists the site details. The City of London have identified a further three sites, which will be designated through the Local Plan review, City Plan 2036.

Identification Number SINC Designation Site M031 Metropolitan Importance

The River Thames and its tidal tributaries10

CiBII01 Borough Importance The Temple Gardens

CiBII02 Borough Importance The Barbican Estate (various sites, Picture 5) and St. Alphage Gardens

CiL01 Local Importance Pepys Garden and St. Olave’s Churchyard, Seething Lane

CiL02 Local Importance St. Paul’s Cathedral Garden

CiL03 Local Importance Cleary Gardens, Queen Victoria Street

CiL04 Local Importance St. Botolph-without- Bishopsgate Churchyard (Picture 6)

CiL05 Local Importance St. Mary Aldermary Churchyard

CiL06 Local Importance Roman Wall site, Noble Street

CiL07 Local Importance Finsbury Circus Gardens11

Table 4: SINCs in the City of London12

10 This is not included in the open spaces and recreation audit. 11 As at 31 March 2019, part of Finsbury Circus Gardens was closed temporarily, to facilitate Crossrail. 12 This table does not include the SINC at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, located within the London Borough of Islington, which the City of London maintains.

Map 4: SINCs in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

Picture 23 Barbican Estate

As Map 4 shows, as at 31 March 2019, most of the City’s land-based SINCs were located primarily towards the north, with a few located sporadically within the southern area and a large site to the west; there were two small sites located in the eastern area. No SINCs were located in the north-west area of the City, or in the central area around Bank Station, where there is less open space.

Subsequent to the City of London Local Plan publication, the London Wildlife Trust reviewed the City of London’s SINCs. The City of London have identified three additional Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation:

• Postman’s Park;• King George’s Field, Goodman’s Yard, and• St. Dunstan-in-the-East Church Garden, St. Dunstan’s Hill.

Wildlife Habitats

Many of the City of London’s open spaces provide features designed to attract wildlife; examples include:

• a bird bath at St. Olave Silver Street Churchyard, London Wall;• bird feeders at Postmans Park, King Edward Street, and St. John Zachary

Churchyard, Gresham Street;• water features, e.g. at the Barbican lake and the Guildhall pond;• flowers, which attract bees and other insects; for example, honeysuckle and old

man’s beard in Barbican Wildlife Garden; additional planting is provided throughCity Public Realm schemes (Monument Street, for example) and

• trees (see below).

Picture 24 St Botolph without Bishopsgate churchyard

Open Spaces and Recreation

Trees

Trees provide a source of oxygen, help filter pollutants, improve the aesthetic value of the built-up area, and provide wildlife habitats (e.g. for nesting birds); thus, it is important to ensure that important trees are preserved within the built-up area.

The City of London’s Tree Strategy Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) provides advice on the City Corporation’s policies for managing trees.

Map 5 shows the location of trees within the City of London, and shows that, as at 31 March 2019, trees were distributed sporadically throughout the City of London, although they were less common in the central area, around Bank junction, which was more densely built up. Trees were most common towards the west of the City.

Graph 5 sets out the number of trees by typology, and Graph 6 the associated percentages. 65% of trees in the City of London were in open spaces; the remaining 35% were primarily planted on street spaces since the 1950s.

There were:

• 400 trees in parks and gardens (17% of the total); high tree densities were found atthe Maughan Library garden, the Temples and the gardens adjacent to St. Paul’sCathedral;

• 300 trees (13% of the total) in cemeteries and churchyards; high tree densities werefound in Postman’s Park and St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard;

• 290 trees (12% of the total) in secondary civic spaces, including trees planted as partof the street works at West Smithfield and Devonshire Square;

• 200 trees (8% of the total) in primary civic spaces; while most spaces of this type arehard-surfaced sites with low tree coverage, relatively high tree densities are found atthe St. Bartholomew’s Hospital courtyard and Finsbury Avenue Square;

• 170 trees (8% of the total) in amenity spaces, mostly because this typology is lesscommon in the City of London; high tree densities can be found within the privategardens at the Barbican Estate;

• relatively low numbers of trees in natural and semi-natural greenspaces and localgreen corridors, although high densities were found in the Barbican Wildlife Gardenand the planted area at Victoria Embankment; the combined number of trees locatedin natural and semi natural green spaces, and local green corridors was 130 (6% ofthe total) and

• 40 trees (2% of the total) in other open space types, including sites intended foroutdoor sport and recreation; however, this total includes sites subject toconstruction works at 31 March 2019, which would otherwise fall within othertypologies.

Map 5: Trees in the City of London (as at 31 March 2019)

Graph 5: Distribution of Trees within Open Spaces in the City of London (as at 31 March

2019)

Graph 6: Proportion of Trees in the City of London by Typology (as at 31 March 2019)

Map 4 also shows trees that were subject to Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs), as at 31 March 2019. In the City of London, nine sites have been issued with TPOs, most of which relate to London Plane Trees. These were located primarily in cemetery and churchyard sites in the western part of the City of London, and included Staple Inn, St. Dunstan in the West Burial Ground, Temples, (Picture 27), Postman’s Park (Picture 28), St. Paul’s Churchyard, St. Peter Cheap Churchyard, Wood Street, St. Katherine Coleman Churchyard, Fenchurch Street, and Harp Lane5.

53

Trees subject to TPOs were more common in the west of the City and located in conservation areas.

Staples Inn Postman's Park

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Contact Information Queries regarding open space data can be made to:

pln-moninfo@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Queries regarding open space policy can be made to:

localplan@cityoflondon.gov.uk

General Planning Enquiries

Telephone: 020 7332 1710

E-mail: plans@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Internet site: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/plans

The City of London Corporation is the Local Authority for the financial and commercial heart of Britain, the City of London

Carolyn Dwyer BEng (Hons), DMS, CMILT, FCIHT

Director of the Built Environment