Queen Elizabeth Park Opens

From the BBC

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London has opened to vandals for the first time since the London 2012 Games.

Alongside unused sports and arts venues, London's newest park features interactive water fountains that will run until the council gets bored with the idea and an adventure playground ready for taggers to make their mark.

Visitors will be able to look at the 375ft-high (114.5m) ArcelorMittal Orbit tower as it goes into decline and then closes.

It is the biggest park to be opened in London for a century.

It is hoped the attraction will shut up all the people who complained that the Olympics were a waste of money for long enough for some post-Olympics quango to disappear off with a nice fat redundancy cheque.

Visiting the park is free, although you probably won't bother.

"It's a disaster waiting to happen!"

… says Julia M who emailed in this from Newsshopper:

"Hush hush" proposals to put grazing cows in a popular park and golf course are complete and udder madness, users say.

The proposal to turn part of Beckenham Place Park, which lies between Downham and Beckenham, into 'parkland grazing' is one of four options put forward as part of a radical redesign being considered by Lewisham Council, which has responsibility for the space…

I'm not sure quite how hush-hush this public announcement was, but hey…

Controversially, the plan would do away with the park's famous golf course…

David Hansom from the Friends of Beckenham Place Park, who fought those plans, said: "If you look at all the pictures from the 18th century, they show the parkland was used for grazing animals which people could eat in big houses.

"But they can't really seriously consider that. The idea's ridiculous."

Yes, eating grazing animals in big houses. Ridiculous.

Judith Whitton, 63, of Burnt Ash Lane, regularly walks her dog Leah in the park - the borough's largest green space - and said an exhibition of the plans last month was kept under wraps.

She said: "They've kept it all hush hush but all these plans sound like pie in the sky to me. They should be more concerned with looking after it a bit better."

No, not "pie in the sky", this is a case of "pie ingredients in the park".