Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1897 coincided with a huge investment in public parks and open spaces to serve and improve Britain’s expanding cities and to create local civic pride. Dozens of town and cities benefited from the creation of their own Victoria Parks, funded through public subscription or private donation.
In 2012, another diamond jubilee year, the talk is now about whether we can afford to keep them.
Another way of looking at the issue of course is to ask whether we can afford to lose them.
Some cities, such as Liverpool, have withdrawn from the prestigious Green Flag award scheme for parks because they do not think they can afford to meet the required standard. Others are disbanding park ranger teams, closing sports facilities or introducing charges for services that were previously free.
There is a consensus on where this trend leads: unsafe, neglected places that people choose to avoid and the loss of the many benefits that come from cared-for green spaces.
Communities want to play an active role in preserving the future of their valued local green space – but they can’t do it alone. Everyone has a part to play and it is important that we all rally round the cause: government, councils, housing associations and businesses must all make a concerted and joined up effort to safeguard the benefits of our natural assets for future generations.
Academic studies have emphasised the importance of green space in meeting the challenges of climate change, encouraging economic growth and boosting land and property values.
There are also benefits for labour productivity, tourism, products from the land, health and wellbeing, recreation and leisure, quality of place, land management and biodiversity, flood alleviation and management; climate change adaptation and mitigation. As part of Operation Groundwork, our celebration of 30 years of changing places and changing lives, we have commissioned a major report by social commentator Julian Dobson on the multiple benefits of vibrant urban green spaces.
The report, Grey Places Need Green Spaces – The Case for Investment in our Nation’s Natural Assets, will be launched at next week’s Chelsea Flower Show and will make a number of recommendations on how they can be safeguarded for future generations.
Groundwork was established as a bold experiment in the early 1980s as the country faced economic difficulties and social unrest. The principles of helping people to change their communities and their world one green step at a time are as relevant now as they were 30 years ago.
We need to be equally bold and experimental in fashioning new solutions to the challenges Britain faces today. We know that the state of our local environment can have a fundamental impact on our health and wellbeing and we need to make sure that we preserve those benefits.
Is it too much to hope that the forthcoming diamond jubilee will lead not only to a new commitment to those wonderful Victorian parks and other public spaces, but to the creation of a network of ‘Elizabeth’ parks to develop the legacy of our 19th century urban visionaries?
Not quite parks but there is a Queen Elizabeth II Fields Fund http://www.sitatrust.org.uk/qe2-fields which is currently open for applications