Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 7 July 2003 (WA 13), why the grass in Hyde Park has still not been reinstated and the land returned to public use following the closure of the "Star Trek" exhibition on 27 April 2003; and what has been the total cost of the reinstatement to date. [HL1598]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe reinstatement of the Parade Ground following the "Star Trek" exhibition was undertaken in late spring and opened to the public in late June 2003. This work included renewing drainage, levelling and restoring the underlying structure of the soil and re-seeding the area. Unfortunately, as a result of heavy rain followed by an exceptionally hot dry summer, the seeded areas did not survive and weather conditions since prevented any further work to remedy this until the new year.
Because the Parade Ground was in a very bad state prior to the exhibition, we decided fully to refurbish a larger area than that covered by the "Star Trek" site. This is the work that has been taking place over the past two months. It is now complete and will be reopened to the public as soon as the turf has established.
167WAThe total cost to date has been around £90,000 and the final cost is expected to be around £100,000. All of this will be met from the bond the Royal Parks received from the "Star Trek" organisers as a condition of their agreement to the exhibition.