Newcastle to transfer all parks and green spaces to a trust

Newcastle council is set to take its plans to transfer the running of its parks and green spaces to a charitable trust to the next level.

Cabinet members voted last night to ask officers to produce a final proposal, which will go back before councillors in the autumn.

Under the arrangement, the management and development of the council’s 33 parks, 21 recreation sites and hundreds of allotments sites will be transferred to a charitable trust.

A cabinet report on the plans estimates that £9.7m would be needed to set up a fund that would be used to maintain the parks for 10 years.

This would give a trust time to raise enough money in order to become self-financing.

If the final plans are approved in the autumn, then the trust could be up and running by spring 2018.

‘Not every neighbourhood is equally likely to generate

the same level of community engagement or charitable support’

Speaking before the meeting, the council’s cabinet member for culture and communities, Kim McGuinness, said the proposal is about ‘securing a positive future for our parks and green spaces, and greater community involvement in their future’.

‘Although the parks and allotments would be transferred into a trust, we can reassure people that the council wouldn’t be walking away or selling off the city’s parks as they would still be in public ownership,’ added Cllr McGuiness.

According to the cabinet report, Newcastle’s parks and countryside budget has been reduced from £2.5m in 2010/11 to £0.2m in 2016/17.

Further savings have already been agreed for the current financial year, which will see the budget cut even more to £0.08m.

In order to address this funding shortage, the council has worked closely with the National Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund to explore alternative delivery models.

‘The council has been clear that any new model would need to satisfy core principles including the parks remaining in public ownership; free access for all; a One City solution; recognition of the vital health and wellbeing role of green spaces; maintaining safety and cleanliness and involving existing community and voluntary groups,’ the report states.

While developing the plans, the council conducted an extensive engagement exercise, which generated 4,300 responses.

‘In general, residents supported/recognised the need for the proposals, and stressed the importance of community involvement, free access to parks, the estate remaining in public ownership, and transparency in governance and decision making,’ the report adds.

The chief executive of Fields in Trust, Helen Griffiths, commented: ‘Transferring the management of parks and green spaces to a trust represents an opportunity to open up new income streams such as donations from trusts and foundations and community giving.

‘In instances where parks are already generating funds through social enterprise and other initiatives it will ensure that these funds are ring fenced for use within the parks estate rather than being repurposed to other budget areas.

‘However despite these undoubtedly positive gains there are also concerns about the equitability of such an approach being adopted. Not every neighbourhood is equally likely to generate the same level of community engagement or charitable support – and often those communities who have arguably the greatest need for a universal free public service such as parks, receive the poorest quality provision.’

Earlier this month, a coalition of charities, park managers and academics, warned parks and green spaces in UK towns and cities are in danger of falling further into neglect.

The coalition, including the community charity Groundwork, park managers and academics, said although there is scope for local authorities to run parks in partnership with charities, residents’ groups and private enterprise – the reality is that many have to rely on council funding