Vision to create National Park in West Midlands welcomed

A government-commissioned report has welcomed ambitious proposals to create a new urban National Park in the West Midlands region, spanning more than seven cities.

The concept, which would reimagine what the West Midlands could become by taking a new look at the way its landscape is viewed, would create a National Park in the region, creating hundreds of miles of green space, conservation areas and new cycle routes.

The bold proposals have been drawn up by Kathryn Moore, Professor of Landscape Architecture at Birmingham City University. The interim findings of the government’s Landscapes Review said officials would like to see ‘the encouragement of a wider range of non-designated systems of landscape protection,’ such as the vision to transform the West Midlands Combined Authority region.

Moore said: “The interim findings of this report demonstrate a welcome appetite to take a different look at how we view our cities and reimagine what these spaces are, and what they could become. A West Midlands National Park would be a vehicle to help drive social, economic and environmental change in the region, profoundly changing its identity. It is a vision of what the West Midlands can become when the significance of its landscape is properly realised and celebrated. Above all, this proposal’s central purpose is real transformation.”

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “The report is very positive towards the concept of a West Midlands National Park, which is a good step forward.  Protecting and enhancing our green spaces is important for so many reasons, not least for people’s quality of life, health and well-being. But it can also help make the West Midlands an even more attractive place for people to visit and for businesses to invest in, helping to grow a clean economy.”