Park Managers
Park Managers:
What’s Happening In Your Park?
Survey goes live for State of Parks II
The report, published in
June 2014, revealed a
growing risk that some
parks could become no-go
areas or even sold off, with:
T
he condition, funding and
future of the UK’s public
parks is coming under fresh
scrutiny, two years after the
Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF)
groundbreaking State of Parks
report.
Local authorities, and in particular
park managers, are now being asked to
complete a survey to help assess how
the UK’s parks are faring in the current
economic climate and how things have
changed since the 2014 report. The
results are expected in the summer.
State of UK Parks 2014: Renaissance
to Risk? was widely welcomed by the
parks sector which, thanks mainly to high
response rates to the survey, was hailed as
a reliable and trusted picture of park and
open space funding across the UK.
42 Landscape & Urban Design
•
86% of parks
managers reporting
cuts to revenue
budgets;
•
45% of local
authorities
considering either
selling parks and
green spaces or
transferring their
management to
others; and
•
81% of council
parks departments
having lost skilled
management staff.
HLF Head of Landscapes and Natural
Heritage Drew Bennellick said: “The first
State of Parks report was widely used to
extol the value of public parks, and this
was in a large part thanks to the time and
dedication of those that completed the
survey.
Or have the difficulties become more
acute since our last survey? We want
to hear from as many park managers as
possible to help us get a full and accurate
picture of the state of our parks.”
“We want to know how parks have fared
since then. Has funding stabilised? Have
new income streams helped address the
challenges facing parks?
HLF is also conducting a survey of park
friends and community groups.
Both surveys run from Monday 4th April
until Friday 29th April 2016.
The survey can be found at:
www.stateofukparks.org.uk