A multi-million
pound initiative to secure the future of the UK’s urban parks and green spaces
is launched today by the National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund,
with support from the government.
In the first project
of its kind in the UK, eight urban areas are joining forces in a pioneering
programme designed to find sustainable ways to manage and fund parks and open
spaces across entire towns and cities.
The Future Parks
initiative is investing more than £6m of National Lottery and government
funding, and £5m worth of advice and support from some of the country’s leading
experts in conservation, fundraising, volunteering and green space management
from the National Trust.
The eight places,
covering a population of five million people, were chosen in a UK-wide national
competition, and selected for their ambitious and creative plans to put green
spaces right at the heart of local communities. They are:
- Birmingham;
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and
Poole;
- Bristol (pictured below);
- Cambridgeshire (county-wide,
covering seven council areas);
- Edinburgh;
- Islington and Camden;
- Nottingham; and
- Plymouth
The green space
across the eight Future Parks places totals more than 20,000 hectares – an area
equivalent to about 35,000 football pitches – ranging from parks, woodlands and
cemeteries to allotments, playing fields and nature reserves.
The eight places
were among 81 councils and communities that applied to be part of the
ground-breaking programme, collectively asking for more than £60million for new
plans to secure the future of their parks and open spaces.
All winning bids
demonstrated four key themes: making green spaces central to everyday community
life; giving the public a bigger role in how they are managed; ensuring they
contribute more to the public’s mental and physical health; and transforming
the way they are funded to secure their futures.
For instance, in
Islington and Camden the councils will focus on using parks and green spaces to
improve health and wellbeing by developing closer links to the NHS, health
providers, doctors and health charities.
This latest
announcement comes as the UK’s parks face mounting financial pressure. A report
from the Institute of
Fiscal Studies last month showed that councils were spending less on
services, with leisure services such as parks and green spaces falling down the
priority list.
This comes despite
increased numbers of people using open green spaces and more areas being
created as part of housing developments, according to the State of UK Parks report from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the
government’s own data.
The eight selected
places will now join Newcastle, a founding city of Future Parks, which has
successfully developed a new parks and allotments trust to look after the
city’s green spaces.
This is the first
time in the UK that a programme of this scale and ambition has been attempted
for urban green spaces across entire towns and cities. The National Trust and
The National Lottery Heritage Fund set up the joint venture because of their
shared passion to ensure quality green, open space is easily and freely
accessible for everyone, for generations to come.
Hilary McGrady, the
National Trust’s Director General, said: “Today is a landmark moment for the
nation’s urban parks. This is not just about new ways to fund and support these
much-loved community spaces, but completely re-thinking the role green spaces
play in our lives and how we can ensure they thrive for generations to come.
“We need to give
parks a reboot and start thinking about them as essential elements of our
communities in the same way we think about housing or transport. Future Parks
is the beginning of something really exciting. What these eight places achieve
will help guide how other councils and communities can really make a difference
to securing the future of their parks too.
“Ensuring everyone
has the opportunity to enjoy green spaces is nothing new to the National Trust;
nearly 125 years ago one of our founders, Octavia Hill, created the National
Trust so that green spaces could be ‘kept for the enjoyment, refreshment and rest
of those who have no country house’.”
Ros Kerslake, The
National Lottery Heritage Fund’s CEO, said: “Our urban parks and green spaces
are essential to the health and well-being of the nation and yet in some areas
they are facing a very insecure future. Future Parks isn’t simply patching-up a
few problem parks. It is enabling local authorities and communities to take a
longer-term, strategic approach to managing, funding and maintaining them, so
future generations will be able to enjoy their many benefits in hundreds of
years from now.
“Developing
strategic approaches and championing innovation are key elements of our new
five-year funding strategy. Future Parks allows us to maximise our resources
and to work with key partners to accelerate progress and share learning.”
Alongside the £5m
from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, in February the Government announced
it was handing Future Parks £1.2m from an overall £13m dedicated to green
spaces.
Minister
for Parks and Green Spaces, Rishi Sunak said: “The UK’s parks and green spaces
offer invaluable opportunities to explore nature, alongside some of our
country’s most fascinating history and heritage. What is more, being out in
their surroundings boosts our health and wellbeing in countless ways.
“The
National Trust is a treasured institution and it is great to see a partnership
with the National Heritage Lottery Fund which now leads the way in influencing
future generations to keep on protecting and developing the natural resources
on our doorsteps.
“There
are challenges for us all in ensuring parks and green spaces are protected,
which is why I am pleased to support the transformational approach of Future
Parks. The programme sets a long-term agenda for the management and maintenance
of urban green spaces and this is why my department has committed £1.2m to
ensure its goals are achieved.
“I look
forward to seeing how the eight places selected across the UK begin to come
together, innovate and realise their ambitions of future-proofing the nation’s
parks and green spaces for everyone to enjoy.”
Over the next two
years, the eight places will work together to develop tools, approaches, skills
and finance to create their new way of managing green space as well as sharing
their experience with other councils.
