Colour Plans, Green Belts, Green Towns, Greenways, Minerals, Public Open Space, Sustainability, Urban Design, Village Envelopes

PARKS MANAGEMENT and GREENSPACE PLANS

Position Statement

Although there are many fine examples of well managed parks and urban spaces, a significant number are poorly managed. They do not achieve their potential for contributing to the public good or to the development of sustainable towns and cities.

Some parks seem to be treated as more of a burden than an asset. All local authorities should develop strategic management plans for their parks as part of wider Greenspace Plans. These strategies should provide for regular review, re-design and refurbishment works to cope with changing lifestyles and developing communities.

Country parks provide valuable access into the countryside but may generate more car journeys. Therefore, any new country parks should be created only where there is a clearly established local need e.g. in urban fringes and close to where people live or where they will not generate additional ‘non-sustainable’ road traffic.

Explanation

In most UK town and cities there are considerable areas of parks and open spaces, often provided a century or so ago by wealthy benefactors. Despite this rich heritage, many of the parks are in a deep crisis. They are:-

• Starved of adequate resources

• Poorly maintained and managed

• Failing to respond to demographic and cultural changes

As a result, some local authorities are struggling to cope with the parks they have inherited. They find them more of a liability and a burden than an asset for public benefit.

Urban parks, both large and small, should be a vital part of the built landscape. They should:

• be protected from built development

• provide for a wide range of formal and informal recreation

• improve the landscape and quality of life

• contribute towards the ideals of sustainable communities

Local authorities, as the modern patrons of parks, must have:-

• parks and open space strategies which are based on thorough research into the community needs (Parks are for people) and the opportunities for each site (preferably linked to strategic Greenspace Plans.

• park management plans for each site, published as a public document and reviewed at least once every 10 years.

• as a key objective, the goal of promoting different but compatible uses in every park and a diversity of linked and open spaces within and around urban areas.

• good quality professional management of both the maintenance and the public access and use of the parks.

In addition, local authorities must also have appropriate Planning policies that will ensure the adequate and beneficial provision and protection of parks and open spaces in new housing areas and other developments.

Country Parks

Country parks have been provided, enthusiastically, by many county councils, with support from the Countryside Commission and in response to a demand for wider access to the countryside. However, their long term role is uncertain. Many are becoming ‘out of town’ parks, in the countryside and dependent on large numbers of car born visitors.

Many country parks attract large numbers of visitors and many have been built on derelict or low quality land that is unsuitable for commercial farming or forestry. Local authorities and others who manage these parks must ensure that they have adequate long term management to retain the fabric of woodland or other natural features that form the basis of their attractiveness and value to the public. In addition, the management must aim to provide a different and distinct visitor experience compared with large urban parks. Plans for any new country parks should only be supported if the need is already clearly established, such as in an urban fringe or for a tourist honey pot, and the development will not create more unsustainable car traffic.

Contact: John Parker