Over 2.5 million
people across Great Britain are more than ten minutes walk from a park or green
space, according to new research from the charity Fields in Trust.
The charity has
developed the Green Space Index which, for the first time uses new Ordnance
Survey data to comprehensively analyse park and green space provision across
Great Britain.
The Green Space Index
shows that although Britain has a total of 216,160 hectares of publicly
accessible local parks and green spaces (about one and a half times the size of
London), less than 6% of this space (smaller than the London Borough of
Bromley) is legally protected with Fields in Trust.
With public sector
cuts leading to pressure on parks and green spaces, there is the risk that a
lack of legal protection could lead to more being sold off or developed.
With previous Fields
in Trust research demonstrating clear health and wellbeing benefits from
regular use of parks and green spaces, the charity is concerned that a large
number of people who don’t have a park or green space nearby could miss out on
these benefits. It is also likely that any future loss of parks and green
spaces will disproportionately impact disadvantaged and underrepresented
communities.
The charity is
highlighting the urgent need to secure and maintain the parks and green spaces
we currently have and wants local government and landowners to take steps to
legally protect parks and green spaces they own.
The Green Space Index
also ranks Britain’s regions and nations against a minimum standard of park and
green space provision. The Index finds that London, Yorkshire & the Humber
and the North West and the North East all fall well below the minimum level,
with the East Midlands providing exactly the minimum.
England as a whole
falls just below the minimum provision but in contrast, Scotland tops the Green
Space Index. It both provides more green space per person than any other part
of in Great Britain (45.86 square metres per person) and has the most legally
protected green space (2,143 hectares).
The average amount of
green space per person in Great Britain is just over 35 square metres, less
than half the size of a six-yard box on a football pitch.
Angela Lewis, Head of
Programmes at Fields in Trust, said: “Parks and green spaces are much-loved by
people and provide many benefits to society. But our new Green Space Index
shows, for the first time, that there is insufficient access to parks and green
spaces and that far too few are legally protected, leaving those unprotected
vulnerable to loss or development.
“It is concerning that
millions of people across the country find themselves with not a single park or
green space within a ten-minute walk. It is also worrying that many regions
across the country are failing to meet even basic standards of provision.
“These findings show
that there is an urgent need to ensure the current level of park and green
space provision is maintained and review what more can be done to legally
protect them for future generations to enjoy.”
The Green Space Index
is the first time that park and green space provision in Great Britain has been
comprehensively analysed. Fields in Trust plan to update the Index on a regular
basis, which will allow the charity to track changes in green space provision
in the future.
