About co-design

Image from co-design: exploring uses and spaces 

Our early engagement with the community in Spring 2021 highlighted that people wanted the opportunity to participate directly in shaping the park’s future. This shaped our approach to the park improvement project, to make this a flagship co-design process.

What is co-design?

There is no 'one size fits all' definition of co-design. However, there are some common principles:

• Active participation – in which everyone has a voice and can shape things
• Prioritise ‘give-and-take’ relationships – focus on ‘what can we do together’
• Share power – empower people to take ownership and make decisions
• Capacity building –  knowledge & skills development and sharing, site visits
• Combining institutional and community expertise - lived experience and professional know-how

Down Lane Park Community Design Group

The Community Design Group (CDG) is made up of volunteers and local community representatives including:

• Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport, and Deputy Leader of the Council (co-chair)
• Cabinet Member for Council House-building, Placemaking and Development (co chair)
• 2 x youth representatives*
• Disability Action Haringey
• Chesnut Residents' Association*
• Living Under One Sun community organisation and charity
• Healthy Streets North Tottenham 
• Berkley Square Developments
• 2 x Down Lane Park User & Community Forum

*Chesnut Residents' Association and 1 x youth representative discontinued their participation as members of the CDG in autumn/winter 2022.

The CDG has been supported by a facilitator, Council Regeneration and Parks officers, and the lead (landscape and building architect) designer, Levitt Bernstein. Membership of the CDG is by invitation of the two elected Councillor's, who co-chair the group: Cllr Ruth Gordon and Cllr Mike Hakata.

Co-design structure and support diagram

Working together through co-design

Over 20 months (Feb '22- Sept '23) the Council and Community Design Group came together 20 times. Meetings were convened on average every three to four weeks.

From Feb '22 - Apr '22 we focused on getting familiar with design, agreeing how we'd work together, understanding opportunities and constraints, undertaking walkabouts of the park and the wider area, and undertaking study visits to other London parks. 

We also agreed 10 project objectives:

From May - September '22 we came together for five co-design workshops, exploring uses and locations; prioritisation; focus on play, maintenance and costs; and held group and round table discussions. 

Working together, we developed two early stage park design options, which we engaged residents and park users around for three weeks in Oct '22.  You can read a summary of the Oct '22 public engagement here.

Oct '22- Mar '23 we held a series of CDG meetings to digest and assimilate residents and park users feedback and develop a single preferred landscape masterplan.

In May '23 we engaged publicly around the preferred masterplan for a second time. You can view the designs here and a summary of the May '23 public engagement feedback here. 

What happens next?

In November  '23 we submitted the final plans to the Local Planning Authority.  The proposals will come before the council's Planning Applications Committee in January '24.  Phase 1 of the improvements works (that do not require planning consent) will start on site on 15th January Jan '24.

If you want to know more about how we'll take improvements forward you can view the Programme Timeline here.