Spring 2006

LAVENDER beds lining the Cannizaro House terrace will be replanted for this summer before construction work begins on the new orangery later in the year.

The Friends will assist Merton staff with the adjacent flower bed within the park itself and the £3000 raised by the hotel a year ago will go towards the replanting.

Merton has approved an amended plan by Cannizaro House to build an orangery on the rear terrace overlooking the park's main lawn. The planning application was approved on 15 December and work will go ahead from October.

The hotel received planning permission after its architects altered an earlier proposal to absorb the entire terrace and raise the floor level. This would have destroyed the lavender beds, created a glass structure unsympathetic to the building's architectural style, and seriously detracted from the Grade II* listed garden itself. Both the Friends and Merton's own parks department objected to that plan.

However the Friends' letter of objection said: "We strongly support the hotel in its need to refurbish the terrace area for business reasons. The majority would like to see alternative proposals which would be less intrusive to the gardens. This could be achieved by a smaller glassed area, both retaining the lavender beds, which form a natural border with the flower beds at path level, and a reduced area of external terrace for use in fine weather."

When the hotel submitted its amended version, Merton's parks manager withdrew the earlier objection. By majority vote the Committee of the Friends rejected the new plan too because of the orangery's proposed width. However the revised version has now been approved by Merton's planning department.

The following changes have been applied to the original plan:

a) Window proportions and glazing patterns have been modified to give a more classical approach.
b) The orangery's depth has been reduced to retain the lavender beds and delete a proposed glass balustrade. The lavender beds will now be replanted and maintained.
c) The colour and finish of new columns and portico will be annotated to match existing style.
d) Semi-circular niches and decorative urns will be retained on each side of the central curved aspect of the existing facade and protected during the construction work.
e) The size and number of openable roof-lights have been reduced.

At the recommendation of English Heritage, furthermore, the depth of architrave  above the columns has been reduced, raising the line of fascia so that the window heads will be visible through the glazing. The line of glazing has also been pulled back behind the columns rather than spanning them.

Part of the terrace will remain uncovered as now, with garden furniture available to users in fine weather.

In 2003 the Friends and Merton gardeners cooperated with an earlier replanting of the beds between the front path and the lavender beds. The staff are shown left during a break in the work. Similar cooperation is now expected shortly.