Who runs the Park? What is the role of the Trust? Can I book areas of the park for events or filming? And more…
Who runs the Park? What is the role of the Trust? Can I book areas of the park for events or filming? And more…
Crystal Palace Park Trust took over the leasehold for the Park from Bromley Council from the 15th of September 2023.
We are a community based charity. Our offices are in the National Sports Centre. You can read more about our Trustees and Staff in the Meet the Team section.
Crystal Palace Park Trust is a registered charity that was formed to assume management of Crystal Palace Park from 15 September 2023 and lead its regeneration. The Trust exists to invest in and support the Park, its users, and the surrounding community. It is governed by a group of local volunteers who work for the benefit of the Park and community, with no direct benefit or interests, and has a growing professional full-time staff. You can learn more about the Trust here, join our newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Crystal Palace Park Trust is committed to managing any park user complaints, effectively, efficiently and fairly through a formal process. Comments and feedback are important to us and help us to improve the services delivered to everyone who visits the park. We encourage anyone to comment on their experience, whether positive or negative, and we will respond in a professional, consistent, accurate and honest way.
Click through to this page to read our full Park User Feedback and Complaints Procedure and to find out how to formally file your feedback or complaint.
The Trust takes our responsibilities towards issues like Modern Slavery very seriously.
Click here to read Crystal Palace Park Trust's Modern Slavery Statement in full.
With the growing challenge of climate change causing hot dry weather in the UK, parks in London are becoming more at risk from grass and forest fires which pose a severe danger to people, wildlife and property. To avoid this risk we are asking visitors to the park not to light fires and not to use barbecues of any type in the park at anytime.
Fires are banned by London Borough of Bromley byelaws for the Park, but it has become more important that we now enforce this rule. The park faces significant littering and mess from the use of barbecues and this change will also keep the park safer and cleaner. Thank you for co-operating with this change and remember that general picnics without the use of fires or barbecues are always welcome.
The Trust is a major stakeholder in the Park’s Regeneration Plan, led by the London Borough of Bromley. In addition to this, we have been investing in the park since 2021. We recently completed works on the area of the park near Penge Gate, which include a refurbished toilet block and the installation of a Changing Places toilet. We also made a significant contribution to the crowd-funded restoration of the Concert Platform as part of the popular Back The Bowl campaign.
In the coming years, we expect most areas of the park to benefit from improvements which will come from this regeneration plan, as well as works we will undertake ourselves, using funds raised by our events programme and from a range of other sources.
Keep in touch via our newsletter, The Transmitter, for further news and updates.
The Park is a great place for celebrations and events. To ensure the safety of all park users, the events team need to check that event plans, risk assessments and insurance are in place. There is a hire fee to cover staff costs. Please contact us and let us know what you have in mind.
Our motto is: “Every penny that we raise in the Park stays in the Park” and all our commercial event revenue is ring fenced to support the park.
Commercial event revenue was the Trust’s first source of income and it remains one of our most important. This initial infusion of revenue capitalised the Trust and provided confidence that our business model would succeed, allowing us to begin to sustainably fund our operations. This allowed the Trust to rent an office, hire staff, and take other necessary steps in establishing a full-time, professionally-managed organisation. Importantly, it also allows us to begin the handover process from London Borough of Bromley, with a mission to improve the park, as outlined below.
The Trust is committed to responsible, sustainable financial stewardship to ensure that we will have the ability to maintain the park to a high level in times both good and bad. The Trust currently estimates that to increase the current level of investment in the park and ensure that the park is maintained to the appropriate standard will mean doubling and possibly tripling the amount that is currently being spent in the park.
In addition to paying for the day-to-day maintenance needs of the Park, the Trust needs to raise a significant sum to maintain its financial reserves in case of unplanned reductions in income. As we all know, economic downturns can and do happen, and when they do we want to ensure that we have the resources to continue maintaining the park to a high level regardless of economic conditions. We never want to be in a position where we have to decrease the level of maintenance in the park due to having limited resources, or to let new or existing investments in the park fall into disrepair because we do not have sufficient financial resources to maintain then.
The Park has a rich history as a film location - regularly doubling for New York's Central Park! We're always happy to hear from filmmakers with an interest in filming in the Park: please contact us and let us know what you have in mind.
The Trust maintains an events policy, which broadly outlines the basis for our events in the park. We will continue to refine this policy as we continue to learn from experience.
For events contracted by the Trust, event producers are required to complete a thorough risk assessment to identify, mitigate and avoid risks to the park’s sensitive environment and heritage features. Event planning documents must incorporate the recommendations of these assessments, which are prepared by expert independent consultants.
Because event proposals are very competitive, the exact revenue from each event is commercially confidential and cannot be shared without violating commercial contracts. However, the substantial income that is raised is the subject of statutory reporting to Companies House and the Charity Commission and is published in our Annual Report and Financial Statements. The overall annual income is sufficient to enable the Trust to assume management of the Park from the London Borough of Bromley and make much needed improvements in the Park.
Some small-scale improvement projects will be delivered relatively quickly. Others, like larger infrastructure improvements, will take longer. All improvements will be limited by the resources available to the Trust, and we want to be sure that we are prioritising those improvements that are most needed in the Park. We conducted a “Have Your Say” survey in early 2022 so that park users could help us determine how to best spend event revenue in the park. That survey identified the toilet renovation as the most needed park improvement, and so we have committed to renovate the existing toilet block and support Bromley in installing a Changing Places toilet. We will continue to use the results of that survey and to continually engage with the community to understand the needs of park users.
It is the responsibility of event promoters to restore the Park back to the same condition that it was in prior to the event, and at their own expense. A thorough site assessment is completed before and after all events to ensure that the Park is restored to the same condition.
The speed of reinstatement of grassed areas (eg, reseeding) can depend on the weather, temperature, and time of year, and we work hard to ensure that reinstatement occurs as quickly as possible, and that areas are fenced off for only as long as they have to be to allow reseeding to be successful.
Yes. The Trust has already invested or committed to spending commercial event revenue into the Park. This includes:
Commercial events have also provided direct, free, local benefits. Free community events were provided by both of the major music promoters that we have contracted with. These events would not be possible without the revenue generated by the commercial events.
Crystal Palace Park has always been a place for events, going back to its creation as the home of the Crystal Palace. Recent feedback from park users has identified a varied events programme as desirable within the Park, and the Trust has contracted with commercial event organisers to accomplish this.
We understand that not everyone will enjoy or welcome every event in the park, but we hope that by working hard to offer an appropriately balanced, diverse programme of events we can offer something that is of interest to everyone.
Commercial events allow the Trust to generate income which can be reinvested back into the park in the form of improved maintenance, restoration projects and other improvements. In addition, commercial events allow the Trust to support community events with lower hire charges and other forms of support.
Since 1 April 2023 the Trust has been responsible for the management of all events in the Park. In addition to commercial events, the Trust produces free activities for the benefit of the Park's wider community base, and collaborates with organisations including the Park's various Friends groups as well as local charities and community organisations to enable a range of other community-oriented events.
Crystal Palace Park is an unusual park. At 200 acres it is far larger than a typical urban park. It is also rich in unique heritage features such as the 170 year old Dinosaurs. It is Grade II* listed and a conservation area.
Making sure such a complex landscape is safe, accessible and enjoyable for the almost one million people who visit it every year requires significant financial resource.
The introduction of car parking charges is a vital part of the Trust’s ability to care for the park and make sure it is a pleasant and safe place for everyone to enjoy, both now and for years to come.
We also want to encourage more people to visit the park on foot, bicycle or public transport where possible, lowering pollution and contributing to a healthier environment for plant life, animals and visitors.
Our charitable mission is to protect, manage and improve Crystal Palace Park as a historic, ecological, recreational, sporting, cultural and educational resource for all. Every penny raised in the park, stays in the park.
Examples of how we may use the income raised through car parking charges include:
Charges will apply seven days a week, 365 days a year, during park opening hours.
No overnight parking allowed. If cars are left overnight, a Penalty Charge Notice will be issued.
Please note that the car park gates close at different times throughout the year - check signs for details or see the info on our Getting Here page.
All vehicles, except for motorbikes and registered Blue Badge holders, have to pay to park.
No - we don’t charge for parking if you have a Blue Badge. You will need to register your vehicle by using the ticket machine in the Penge Gate car park each time you visit or by contacting the Trust on contact@crystalpalaceparktrust.org
You will need to register for Blue Badge parking each time you use a different vehicle.
Yes. We offer annual, six monthly and monthly permits for regular park users. To apply for one please email: contact@crystalpalaceparktrust.org
Yes.
If you paid via an app, you can top up and pay for additional time from your phone.
If you paid using the ticket machine, you will have to purchase another ticket from the machine.
There will be a grace period of 30 minutes to allow adequate time to drop off or pick people up.
There will be a grace period of 30 minutes to allow adequate time to get in, deliver and get out.
Anyone operating a business or delivering a service in the park should have a permit to do so provided by the Trust. The cost of this permit is inclusive of parking a vehicle in one of our car parks at no additional cost.
Please contact the Trust on contact@crystalpalaceparktrust.org if you require a permit.
Parking must be paid for upon entry to the park. If you do not pay or stay beyond the period of time you have paid for, then you will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice for £100.
You will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice for £100.
We have Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that track when vehicles enter and exit the car park. We also have wardens who check vehicles are parked in the correct spaces and that blue badge holder spaces are being used correctly.
Many people were choosing to park on access roads, rather than in the car parks. All parking must now be within a designated car parking area, and we have restricted the ability to park elsewhere.
The car park gates will be open from 7:30 seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Car park gates close in line with dusk and so change throughout the year - see our Getting Here page for more info
