The
Queen’s Park Savannah of today is 82 ha. in size and part of the original
Peschier Estate sold to the Cabildo in 1819 transferred to the Colonial government
in 1825. History records that it was
formally named Queen’s Park in 1845. The Savannah has therefore been an area dedicated to recreation
and public use for just over 200 years. Not
quite flat, there is a 20m height difference between the northern and southern
edges of the Savannah.
The
present use of the Savannah is governed by the Queen’s Park Ordinance (1950)
Ch. 42, No. 2 and No. 6 of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago. This legislation places responsibility for
the Savannah and Botanic Gardens to the Division of Horticultural Services,
while the City Corporation is responsible for the perimeter area between the
road reserve and the railings. The
area previously leased by the Trinidad Turf Club – the Grand Stand and associated
buildings is now under the jurisdiction of the National Carnival Commission.
Understanding
the Savannah’s significance is key to arriving at decisions that preserve
the resource and yet allow it to be optimally utilised. The following significance statements capture the essence of the
Savannah’s importance to the nation’s natural and cultural heritage and have
been developed from discussion with major stakeholders and research.
·
The
Savannah is one of the oldest and largest natural urban parks in Trinidad
and Tobago.
·
The
Savannah and associated open and recreation spaces contain approximately 100
ha of valuable habitat for a variety of species within a heavily urbanized
area.
·
The
Savannah’s open space provides a distinctive character to the nation’s capital.
·
The
Savannah was important in the historical development of the nation’s capital.
·
The
Savannah is accessible to thousands of people in the city and has assumed
not only local, but also regional and national importance.
·
It
provides a central gathering place for entertainment and civic life.
·
It
supplies a focal point for community identity and pride.
·
It
offers a sense of place, connectivity, integration and cohesion for residents.
·
It
provides small business opportunities in retail sales.
·
In
addition to cricket, soccer and football, other structured sports such as
rugby, baseball, hockey, athletics, rounders and netball find a home in the
Savannah.
·
The
Savannah is the city’s gym as many people regularly walk and jog around its
perimeter.
·
The
Savannah is the world’s largest roundabout.
·
The
Savannah is the site of many major cultural and social activities like concerts,
bazaars, flea markets, national best village competition, fireworks, kite
flying, fetes, religious conventions, walkathons and marathons and of course,
carnival activities.
·
Increasing
demands from other uses have resulted in major management problems. These include turf destruction resulting from
the erection of temporary structures, vehicle parking on the Savannah grounds,
conflicting uses and timing of uses and more recently, the temporary and sometimes
permanent appropriation of areas of the Savannah by other public agencies.
·
The
protection of the Savannah from built development over the years was established
on the underlying principles that public squares and open spaces were necessary.
·
The
seemingly large and under-utilized area in such close proximity to the central
business district has, over the years, made the area a prime target for a
number of development proposals including housing, commerce, parking and a
sports stadium. These were all quashed
after substantial public outcry.
·
That
the Savannah is a valuable open space in the city that should be protected
at all cost has recently come under serious threat, and an agreed approach
needs to be arrived at which meets the needs of the users as well as considering
its significance to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
A
report by the standing Savannah Management Committee on the development, maintenance
and use of the Savannah[1]
identifies the following problems:
·
User
conflicts
·
Environmental
degradation
·
Informal
vending
·
Illegal
parking
·
Illegal
advertising
·
Legislation
in need of review
·
Administrative
and management fragmentation
·
Inadequate
maintenance of internal areas.
·
High
operating costs due to poor management
It
was felt that these problems arose mainly because the original intent of the
park as a recreation ground for the citizens was being threatened and that
the natural, physical characteristics were being compromised. These problems are discussed below under a
few broad headings.
The
Savannah needs to be considered in the context of the surrounding park system.
These areas include: the Zoo, Wildflower park, the Botanic Gardens,
the public tennis courts, the Museum and the Princes Building grounds.
While
the use of the Savannah for Carnival and associated activities is highly seasonal,
there has been increasing use for concerts and fetes throughout the year.
The physical jurisdiction and parameters of operation of the National
Carnival Commission need to be clearly defined in the first instance, but
more importantly, the issues of how carnival is conducted in the Savannah
and whether there could be more appropriate sites for the location of an entertainment
facility need to be addressed in a forum of the affected parties.
There
is no single authority responsible for all areas of the Savannah. The myriad agencies with either a presence
or responsibility include:
·
The
Ministry of Works
·
The
Port of Spain City Corporation
·
Horticultural
Services Division (Botanic Gardens)
·
Port
of Spain Health Officer
·
The
Ministry of Sports
·
WASA
·
The
National Carnival Commission
·
The
Ministry of Culture
·
Town
and Country Planning Division.
This
fragmented nature of the management of the Savannah had led to a piecemeal
and uncoordinated approach to planning for the best use of the Savannah.
In
1998 however, the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources appointed
a Management Committee for the Queen’s Park Savannah and admitted that need
“to create order in the area’s management and to prevent environmental destruction
of the aesthetic thereof”. The work
of this committee is a good basis on which to build towards arriving at consensus
regarding the planning for and development of the Savannah.
The
Emperor Valley Zoo located north of the Savannah has also exhibited ad hoc
and piecemeal development bursts. These
lands required for expansion are released from the Botanic Gardens. Further growth for the zoo must be considered
in the context of global trends towards free roaming of animals as against
caged displays and the fact that the Botanic Gardens itself requires that
the existing areas under its jurisdiction be maintained to protect the plant
stock therein.
It
is understood that there are plans to relocate part of the zoo to an identified
area in central Trinidad with sufficient space for a properly laid out facility.
It is proposed that the existing zoo will remain in its present location,
but become more user friendly with interactive viewing/ petting areas.
The
Savannah is also important as a water catchment area.
The Water and Sewerage Authority pumps roughly one million gallons
of water per day from this aquifer to supply Woodbrook and the General Hospital. Contamination and reduction of production of
gravel aquifer if further areas of the Savannah are paved.
Alternative
scenarios representing different approaches for managing the park have been
developed based on proposals and discussions with stakeholders. They range from continuing current management
practices without any major change in infrastructure, approach or programmes
(the "no action" option) in option 1 to significant changes in the
other four options.
Current
approaches would result in continuing degradation of the Savannah through
exacerbation of the problems of inadequate maintenance, illegal vending, littering
and escalation of carnival related activities to name a few. The continuing lack of a management authority
for all of the park will result in inability to procure the desired services
and funding needed to develop and maintain the area.
This
alternative would take actions to reduce existing development and restore
more of the Savannah to its original state.
This
alternative would adjust current management by increasing opportunities and
facilities for organized recreation. Development
of more hard court areas for basketball and netball. Development of an area for hockey to accommodate
the existing field at Princes ground which would be displaced by the Carnival
center proposed for the heritage zone described below.
Actions
would include planting of trees and landscaping to provide shelter for onlookers,
formal pedestrian access and seating. Conversion of part of the Grand Stand for use by sporting groups.
This
option represents the development proposals of the National Carnival Commission:
·
Development
of an entertainment facility with 14,000 – 18,000 seating capacity.
·
Upgrading
of parking areas.
·
Carnival
heroes park.
·
Paving
of carnival band route to facilitate throughput of carnival bands on parade.
·
Land
requirement: 25%-35% Savannah area.
This
is illustrated in Figure 9.1
This
option represents the proposed approach of the Savannah Management Committee:
·
parking
controls
·
fete
prohibition
·
re-grassing
of areas
·
widening
of pitch walk
·
creation
of a joggers’ track
·
rationalization
of vending activity into designated areas with amenities (water, toilet facilities)
·
development
of specifications for various types of vendor carts
·
rationalization
of management responsibility for the Savannah
·
designation
of two areas as special use areas, the Grand Stand area (jurisdiction to remain
under the NCC in the short term) and another area south of the President’s
House.
These
alternatives are still however presented in the absence of an approach to
arriving at how the emphasis should be determined. The following section suggests a mechanism for determining the strategy
as well as sets out an approach to management and planning for the park.
It
cannot be overstated that any management strategy or implementation of projects
for the Savannah and associated park areas needs to be undertaken within a
coherent plan which is underpinned by a vision for the Savannah.
Whilst
public sector agencies battle over turf and various small private sector groups
express periodic outrage at development proposals and actions, a process which
provides a forum for arriving at consensus concerning the future of the Savannah
needs to be engaged in. This public
referendum would then inform more clearly and with more authority, future
planning for the Savannah.
It
may be useful to establish zones of usage and develop management and development
programmes. The management zones will
identify ways that different areas of the park could be managed to achieve
a variety of resource and visitor use conditions to serve the goals of the
Savannah and the wider park areas including the Botanic Gardens and the Zoo.
Each
zone will specify a particular combination of physical, biological, social,
and management conditions. Different
actions would be taken by the management authority in different zones for
the various types and levels of uses and facilities.
A
description and rationale for potential zones is outlined below. This is not an inflexible listing however,
and alternative scenarios for future park conditions and management can be
developed by placing these or other zones in various configurations. These
zones could be as set out in Figure 9.2
A
heritage area can be defined to include the existing National Museum and the
Princes Building grounds. The latter
area can be designated as a cultural center which would house calypso/ carnival
archives and displays.
This
center would complement the Museum and provide a much-needed formal, structured
space for the recognition of carnival and calypso champions. The building should be guided by vernacular
design compatible with other significant structures around the Savannah but
should be able to accommodate a large display area that would feature carnival
costumes of previous years as well as an annually changing exhibit to showcase
the current winners.
1. Rock Gardens
2. Botanic Gardens
3. Zoo
The
perimeter road around the Savannah is expected to continue its role as a major
distributor of traffic, especially around the north and eastern sides. There are six traffic light controlled pedestrian
crossings around the Savannah at present.
As
far as possible, these should be linked to improved internal foot and cycle
paths to direct users to these pedestrian priority crossings.
The
area outside of the southern fence of the Botanic Gardens generally used by
large buses is already significantly degraded and should be properly prepared
to facilitate buses. This is becoming
increasingly important with the streamlining of the tourism and tour bus industry.
In addition to bus parking, parking areas for private vehicles need
to be reviewed in relation to the City Gateway proposals and wider transport
issues. While parking is not encouraged
on the Savannah itself, areas already degraded could be allowed to continue
in such use (for example south of the Grand Stand), but methods of providing
a suitable surface other than asphalt and which allow percolation should be
investigated.
There
are at present three public conveniences within the Savannah/ Botanic Gardens/
Zoo area. The location of these inside
the zoo, in the northern sector of the Botanic Gardens and in the southeastern
corner of the Savannah, leaves large areas not serviced by any type of amenity.
Better
integration of a reorganized zoo facility with Botanic Gardens/ Picnic Area
may assist in some measure, but new amenity sites which service other parts
of the area should be included.
This
area is earmarked as a special events area available for rental in the plan
proposals of the Savannah Management Committee. The use of this area however needs to conform to the policies arrived
at for the sustainability of the Savannah. This area can accommodate visitor services, vending and environmental
education facilities.
The
Savannah Management Committee has developed a strategy whereby the illegal
vending activity could be rationalized. It
was felt that sale of traditional foodstuff like corn, coconuts, oysters and
pholourie complemented the ambience and vision for the Savannah and that these
should be directed to specially serviced areas. In addition to agreeing to a rental fee for
the amenities, the vendor carts would require to conform to an approved design.
While
the zones have been identified as individual areas for management purposes,
there is also need to provide linkage between and within them. The interior of the Savannah is poorly accessed
at the moment and a system of unpaved (gravel) footpaths and cycle tracks
away from periphery connecting areas designated for sport and will also serve
to spread use to more areas, thereby improving security. Soft areas can be planned around the sport
grounds with appropriate landscaping and shade trees to protect spectators
and further encourage use of the interior areas.