London boroughs congratulated on green spaces

A new report has revealed that more than 70 per cent of London Boroughs have achieved a very good or higher resident satisfaction rating for their parks.

Parks for London has published the Good Parks for London Report 2018: Improving London’s parks for all, which analyses the approach that London Boroughs are taking towards parks and green spaces, evaluating them against ten criteria: public satisfaction, awards for quality, health and well-being, sustainability, events, supporting nature, skills development, community partnerships, collaboration and strategic planning.

Amid continued cuts to council budgets and growing concerns over air quality, the London Borough of Lewisham has topped the chart for the second year in a row, demonstrating the fantastic work that they are doing to promote and protect parks and green spaces across their borough.

The report showcases that over 70 per cent of London Boroughs achieved a very good or higher resident satisfaction rating for their parks, with 13 per cent of parks expected to attain Green Flag Awards. Looking at health, fitness and community strength, all boroughs provide Green Gyms and 75 per cent now provide free drinking water. Furthermore, 78 per cent of boroughs have a Biodiversity Action Plan in place, 65 per cent have a Parks Friends Group Forum and 46 per cent have green vehicles within their fleet.

John Thompson, group manager for Green Scene, said: “Our excellent parks have been achieved by meaningful community engagement and strong working relations with our service partner, Glendale. Each of our parks has its own unique qualities and are managed and used according to the varying needs of residents. Meeting, listening and working with those residents and user groups exemplifies how collective ownership and striving for improvement has produced parks we are both proud of and which serve well the people of Lewisham.”

Tony Leach, CEO of Parks for London, added: ‘’We want to congratulate well performing Boroughs and support all that are struggling to provide an effective parks service; so, we hope councillors and council chief executives will take time to read the report, recognise the huge value that parks services provide and protect their funding.’’