Shared Assets and Jon Sheaff Associates were commissioned by London Borough of Barnet to redesign and create a sustainable financial model for Copthall Park in Barnet, which built on earlier work from Shared Assets in which a regional governance model was created.  The purpose of the work was to regenerate the site, improve user experience and footfall, and make the park financially sustainable in perpetuity. This included creating proposals for: building design, accessibility, furniture placement, landscaping works, governance, income generation possibilities, maintenance and community involvement.

Copthall has an area of approximately 70 hectares (173 acres) of Green Belt land including grassland, woodland and copse areas. The site has a range of sporting facilities which support a variety of sporting activities including the Copthall leisure centre, the Allianz Stadium and a number of community sports organisations and seasonally let pitches. Casual, active and passive recreation is a large element of community use. Copthall is also the location for Barnet Council’s Green Spaces Operational Base. Copthall is also an integral part of the green infrastructure network for the Borough and acts as a local park for the communities that surround the site. 

The designs were created and iterated through close working with the council team and a wide range of  stakeholders, including local sports clubs, community organisations, Friends groups and local residents  A business model was developed that proposed annual revenue generation of £1.4 million set against expenditure of £1,2 million. Revenue expenditure figures were based on the detailed assessment of the management and maintenance costs of all of the assets within sites across the study area (including a full assessment of all hard and soft landscape maintenance costs.)  

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