A BID for millions of pounds of lottery money to redevelop a park has been successful, it has been announced today.

The council, backed by the Friends of Lloyd and Aveling Park (FLAP), will receive £3.6m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to renovate the popular park, in Forest Road, Walthamstow.

The money, along with a further £600,000 from the council, will fund new facilities including a café, skatepark, bowling green, a new garden, gallery and community hall.

It is hoped work on the project will begin in September.

Wesley Kerr, HLF chairman, said: “These bold development plans will enhance all the existing amenities but also restore the amazing medieval moat and island, create a series of a series of well- maintained and themed garden areas and reconnect the historic country mansion which was William Morris’s childhood home with its historic landscape.”

Cllr Geraldine Reardon, council cabinet member for leisure, said she was “delighted” by the news.

She said: ““Lloyd and Aveling Park provides a great place for rest, relaxation and recreation for Waltham Forest residents, and we will be making some impressive changes to ensure it is an even more popular destination for generations to come.”

Adrian Stannard, FLAP chairman, said: "This is a tremendous achievement for Waltham Forest and we look forward to making use of the new facilities in 2011 as Lloyd Park truly becomes Waltham Forest’s premier park".

But the plans have not been without their controversy.

Waltham Forest Theatre will be demolished and replaced with an open air performance space, a proposal which led to a doomed campaign to save the ageing facility.

Residents have also raised concerns about potential noise from the open air performance area and increased traffic.

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