Hyde Park Restoration

Hyde Park, which was at the heart of London 2012 celebrations during the summer, is being restored and 150,000 square metres of turf, equivalent to 20 football pitches, will be laid. By the end of this spring the park will be fully restored.

The Royal Parks played a significant role in the London 2012 Games - with 11 Olympic and Paralympic events taking place across six parks. Hyde Park not only hosted the Olympic Triathlon and Marathon Swimming events, but also a concert series and BT London Live where over 800,000 visitors watched live Olympic competitions for free. Following unprecedented wet weather conditions, 130 large lorry loads of woodchip was laid onto the Parade Ground in Hyde Park to ensure that the events were safe. The woodchip has remained in place over winter to enable visitors to access this area of the park.

Now that the spring growing season has arrived, Royal Parks' experts are overseeing a team of specialist contractors from Kestrel Contractors Ltd as they remove the woodchip and prepare the ground for new turf. This work, which is being funded by the event organisers, is being completed in stages and footpaths will remain open wherever possible. By the end of April 2013, dependent on the weather, the final section of turf will be laid and Hyde Park will be restored to better than its pre-Games condition.

Linda Lennon, Chief Executive of The Royal Parks said: "The Royal Parks team at Hyde Park has extensive park management experience and are experts in planning for large events and restoring the park effectively and to a high standard. We are proud that Hyde Park played such a significant role in the London 2012 Games and that so many people enjoyed the electric atmosphere here, but we are now looking forward to restoring the park. Good progress has already been made and by the end of April the equivalent of 20 football pitches of turf will be laid onto the Parade Ground area of the park. By the end of this spring the park will be in excellent condition."