Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and contractor Veolia have proposed a ground source heat pump project which aims to make Lewisham hospital’s operations more sustainable.
The trust has secured about £17m from the Deaprtment of Energy Security and Net Zero to help deliver the project.
But the proposal will have a big impact on the park. The plans involve drilling boreholes between the hospital and running track (behind Albacore Crescent). More boreholes, which will be 150m deep, are planned for several areas in the northern part of Ladywyell Fields between the cafe and the Ladywell Road entrance.
Underground pipework will then connect these boreholes with several access hatches. All public rights of way are set to remain open during the drilling works. Test drilling will start from April 2026 with activity on site until at least late 2026.
A ground source heat pump uses buried pipes in a boreholes to absorb low temperature heat from the earth. It then uses electricity to concentrate the heat and use it for heating. The heat pump moves heat rather than generating it, offering efficient, low-carbon warmth and even cooling.
The Ladywell Fields User Group is broadly in support of the sustainability aims of the project. But it has voiced concers about some of the impact of the work and the locations of proposed boreholes – in the nature reserves and near the cafe.
The group wants assurances on the quality of the restoration work and insist the project should not lead to any deterioration in the quality of the park’s grassland.
“Overall we want minimise any detrimental impact on the park, the park users and the ecology of the park.”
Discussions are being held with the council sbout the possible social value benefits of the work. The user group says this would involve an investment by the project in the park – an acknowledgement of the scheme’s ongoing use of the park and also of the disuption caused by on-site work to park users.
The user group is concerned about the cafe. Glendale, the council’s management contractor for the park, will re-tender the Ladywell Fields Cafe contract in early 2026 just as work on the boreholes is expected to start.
“It’s not ideal,” one member of the group said. “The re-tendering process will get under way just as a series of boreholes are being drilled close to the cafe. There’s bound to be some disruption.”