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Big Society can give our green lungs breathing space, but they still need funds


Green spaces should be fertile ground for the Big Society, says Tony Hawkhead. But as one successful scheme proves, it won’t happen w
ithout funding

We all know it, even if there wasn’t copious evidence to prove it: the quality of the local environment can play a huge role in the development of stronger, healthier communities. The Victorians were the first to instigate this approach to mitigating industrialisation by creating a wealth of glorious parks – not just here but throughout the British Empire, many of which still retain their original splendour. It’s probably partly the legacy of that era which informs a generally held perception that access to good quality outdoor space is a basic right of living in this country.

Green spaces are the ‘green lungs’ of our towns and cities, contributing to improving people’s physical and mental health by providing places for informal recreation – walking, cycling, sitting, socialising and children’s play. But they need to be properly looked after: play equipment needs to be fixed and cleaned, grass needs cutting and lighting needs maintaining.

Money for green space improvements and maintenance is, of course, tight and getting tighter. Groundwork recently commissioned ComRes to conduct a survey of 443 local government councillors in order to gauge their attitudes on issues surrounding green spaces and their future plans. We found that half of all councillors (49%) agreed that due to budget constraints, their councils would be reducing their level of maintenance for local green space, while 60% plan to encourage local community or voluntary groups to get involved in their maintenance.

It begs the question: can the Big Society help nurture our green space? That nurturing will certainly need pump-priming. Certainly from Groundwork’s experience, even small scale financial investment in a Friends of the Local Park group can result in a rise in the long-term sustainability and viability of a public park.

A recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers/Institute for Public Policy Research report suggests there is real appetite from local people to get more involved in designing and delivering public services, but barriers such as lack of confidence, time and skills hamper participation levels. Something we’ve found in our work at Groundwork is the bureaucracy that people have to get around in order to access public funds can be offputting to anyone even remotely pressed for time, or with other pressures in their lives.

At Groundwork we have been grant managing a large Big Lottery funded programme called Community Spaces. It specifically targets community groups and this presents particular challenges. Some groups have little or no experience of running or managing a capital works project. Mindful of the red tape conundrum, and supported by the Big Lottery Fund, we invested in 50 ‘facilitators’ who could work alongside communities to ensure their project was a success.

A facilitator is an experienced individual trained to assist successful Community Spaces projects in completing detailed applications, maximising community involvement, overcoming barriers and difficulties, and reporting on quality, risk, viability and value for money. They work with groups and guide them through the many aspects of successfully delivering a green space project.

This programme of support represents a major investment in community capacity building, which has long been recognised as a key prerequisite for community based delivery of services. But capacity building is more than a one-off intervention, providing short-term support to groups. It requires a long-term commitment and that requires significant investment.

Bennion Pools, a 2.48ha site and formerly a derelict sewerage farm in Leicester, received £49,164 from the programme and was taken on by the Friends of Bennion Pools as a site in need of regeneration. As a result of the drive and commitment shown by the community, the former wasteland has been transformed into a superb nature area, accessible to all.

The funding allowed the group to create new pathways, improve access to the site and install timber boardwalks around the pools. There’s also a nature trail for children with benches and bird boxes throughout the reserve. The pools are now a communal space for local people to enjoy nature and wildlife on their doorsteps. I’ve had the good fortune to see it – it’s a wonderful project.

Projects such as this are just one example of how community engagement in green space projects can create a stronger, more sustainable bond between the community and their environment.

That’s why we can say that the Community Spaces programme, which has so far seen 785 spaces transformed, is enabling people to nurture the green spaces near where they live.

So yes, the Big Society can nurture our green spaces, but it can’t come for free.

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