A consultation on a new Parks Strategy is out to consultation until Monday 22 January. The Society will be responding and you may wish to comment. Do contact us with suggestions for the Society’s response.
Since the last Parks Strategy was written in 2008, new priorities have emerged, and these have driven the themes of the Strategy:
- nature and climate
- children and young people – fun, play and learning
- community participation
- health and well-being activities
- cultural events and making heritage accessible
- employment and skills – developing the workforce
This is in the context of big budget cuts in recent years, which lead to drives for volunteer involvement and new commercial opportunities.
In addition, the Parks Strategy incorporates:
- a Food Growing and Allotment Strategy
- green space provision standards. A review of the existing space per person, which is reducing as the population grows, and the potential supply of additional space. You can see how well your area meets distance standards on an online map.
The Society’s response considers whether at a citywide level the Strategy provides the right framework and actions for the future development of the parks.
You might want to consider whether the Strategy seems appropriate for your local park. You can look up the spaces near you on an online map.
Note that the Local Plan has policies on local open spaces that use different definitions from those in the Parks Strategy and serve a different purpose: the Plan designates a list of ‘Local Green Spaces’ and ‘Reserved Open Spaces’. The designations determine the level of protection from development. There is a Local Plan topic paper on the subject. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an online map of these spaces.
Alan Morris
Additional information on open space provision standards