Health and Green Space What Has Your Greenspace Ever Done for You? Everyone Loves a Park! Excepting Perhaps Agoraphobics

Health and green space What has your greenspace ever done for you? Everyone loves a park! Excepting perhaps agoraphobics

How do we value such spaces?

The Quarry Park Image from Original Shrewsbury website How are parks currently valued? Financially…

Birmingham Council parks study example1:

Direct parks income £13m Parks services expenditure £26m Annual net-value -£13m

Therefore parks are seen as a burden on the local authority

Reg in ‘Life of Brian’ Monty Python

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? ‘Ecosystem services’

Parks and green space have wider benefits

We cannot manage what we do not measure and we are not measuring either the value of nature's benefits or the costs of their loss. Pavan Sukhdev Marches Ecosystem Different habitats Assssment provide different values for ecosystem 2016 services.

E.g. Carbon storage Hölzinger, O., 2016: Marches Ecosystem Assessment - An Woodland = 278 t ha-1 Assessment of the Natural -1 Capital and Ecosystem Wetland = 750 t ha Services in Herefordshire, (1m deep wetland) Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. Shropshire Council Only 54% of area on behalf of the Shropshire, covered Telford & Wrekin Local Nature Partnership. Shrewsbury http://bit.ly/MEA-report Marches Ecosystem Assssment 2016

Hölzinger, O., 2016: Marches Ecosystem Assessment - An Natural Capital worth £7.5bn Assessment of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem (capitalised over 25 years) Services in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. Shropshire Council on behalf of the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Local Nature Partnership. Shrewsbury Carbon Stocks an additional £7.2bn http://bit.ly/MEA-report

Woodland: Aesthetic appeal - urban

Garrod (2002) calculated an annual ‘willingness £7.24 million to pay’ per household for a view of urban fringe Shropshire broadleaved woodland of £360.64 (2015 prices)

£15.5 million (Marches)

Hölzinger, O., 2016: Marches Ecosystem Assessment - An Assessment of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. Shropshire Council on behalf of the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Local Nature Partnership. Shrewsbury Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGSt)

ANGSt recommends that everyone, wherever they live, should have accessible natural greenspace: • of at least 2 hectares in size, no more than 300 metres (5 minutes walk) from home; (Frankwell car park is about 1.8 ha) • at least one accessible 20 hectare site within two kilometre of home; (Quarry park is about 11ha, Cole Mere is 48ha) • one accessible 100 hectare site within five kilometres of home; and (The Wrekin is 215ha but 19km away from UCS) • one accessible 500 hectare site within ten kilometres of home; plus (The Stiperstones NNR is 447ha – but 24km away) • a minimum of one hectare of statutory Local Nature Reserves per thousand population (we have 0.97ha per 1000 people) Marches Ecosystem Assessment 2016

Accessible Natural Greenspace Standard (ANGSt +)

63% of households have Hölzinger, O., 2016: Marches Ecosystem access to ANG of at least Assessment - An Assessment of the 2 ha in size within 300m Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & (58% for Shropshire) Wrekin. Shropshire Council on behalf of the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Local Nature Partnership. Shrewsbury Marches Ecosystem Assessment 2016

58% of households have access to ANG, of at least 2 ha in size within 300m in Shropshire Marches Ecosystem Assessment 2016 Simple buffers of greenspace

58% of households have access to ANG, of at least 2 ha in size within 300m in Shropshire Shropshire Council – ANGSt mapping Route analysis – including footpaths

48% of households have access to ANG, of at least 2 ha in size within 300m in Shropshire Health implications

“Populations that are exposed to the greenest environments also have lowest levels of health inequality related to income deprivation” The Lancet

Taken from a talk by Dr. William Bird, 2016 Taken from a talk by Dr. William Bird, 2016 Taken from a talk by Dr. William Bird, 2016

Evidence

Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the Impact of Nature on Mental Well-Being in Real Time. BioScience

“the benefits of nature on mental well-being are time-lasting and interact with an individual's vulnerability to mental illness. These findings have potential implications from the perspectives of global mental health as well as urban planning and design” Evidence

Morbidity is related to a green living environment British Medical Journal

“The annual prevalence rate of 15 of the 24 disease clusters was lower in living environments with more green space in a 1 km radius. The relation was strongest for anxiety disorder and depression. The relation was stronger for children and people with a lower socioeconomic status. Furthermore, the relation was strongest in slightly urban areas and not apparent in very strongly urban areas” Evidence

Doses of Neighborhood Nature: The Benefits for Mental Health of Living with Nature BioScience

“People living in neighbourhoods with more birds, shrubs and trees are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress” How are parks currently valued? Financially…

Birmingham Council parks study example1:

Direct parks income £13m Parks services expenditure £26m Annual net-value -£13m

Therefore parks can be seen as a liability to the local authority

1. Hölzinger, O. and Grayson, N. 2019: Birmingham Health Economic Assessment & Natural Capital Accounts: Revealing the True Value of Council-managed Parks and Greenspaces. Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Adjusted values for aggregation (to avoid double-counting) Annual(ised) values stated in Total Natural Health Direct & Conventional £millions; 2018 prices; central Capital Value Benefits Indirect Accounts estimates Council Income Hölzinger, O. and Grayson, Assets N. 2019: Birmingham Property value uplift £279 Health Economic Council Tax uplift £28 £28 Assessment & Natural Capital Accounts: Revealing Physical health benefits £193 £193 the True Value of Council- Mental health benefits £10 £10 managed Parks and Air quality regulation £14 £14 Greenspaces. Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Recreation £61 Global climate regulation £13 Food production from allotments £4 ‘Wider benefits’ Biodiversity (non-use benefits only) £2 amount to 24 times the expenditure. Flood risk regulation £1 Direct parks income £13 £13 £13 Adjustments £0 £0 £0 Local Authorities Annual service/benefit value £619 £218 £41 £13 don’t see all those Liabilities savings but with Parks services expenditure £26 £26 £26 £26 Council Tax uplift Annual net-value £594 £192 £16 -£13 there is some return to society in health benefits to the Council as per books on investment. Benefits-Cost Ratio 24.2 : 1 8.5 : 1 1.6 : 1 0.5 : 1 Birmingham parks study – summary results

• Every £1 the Council spends on parks and greenspaces returns more than £24 to society

• For every £1 the Council spends on parks and greenspaces, it gains a return of £1.60 in Council Tax and direct parks income

• [ONS – Natural Capital Accounts are required by 2020. Proximity to natural land and green space can influence property values as premiums are paid for a nice view or easy access to a local park. The value associated with living near a green space is estimated to be just over £130 billion in the UK.]

• Physical and mental health benefits provided by Birmingham’s Parks and Greenspaces are estimated to add more than 3,300 Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) each year

• The value of Council-managed parks and greenspaces to each resident is approximately £542 every year.

• Council-managed parks and greenspaces are accounted for as a net-liability rather than a net-asset with each £1 spent only returning about £0.50

• green infrastructure of which Council-managed parks and greenspaces form part, should be seen as critical infrastructure rather than just a ‘good to have’ (Holzinger, 2019) Birmingham parks study – summary results

• Council-managed woodlands capture more than 350 tonnes of pollutants each year, avoiding approximately 133 hospital admissions, 28 deaths, and adding 489 life years.

• Parks and greenspaces managed by Birmingham City Council store more than 573,000 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 2.1 million tonnes of CO2 with a value of £221 million ORVal (Outdoor Recreation Valuation) Developed by the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP) at The University of Exeter

• ORVal is a national online tool that uses known greenspace or user generated areas of greenspace to report: – Welfare values – Visit estimates • ORVal was commissioned by Defra and is endorsed by HM Treasury • Numbers are predictions of a model, not actual counts • Data is derived from national survey of 46000 people into their recreational use of greenspace. This is Natural England’s Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) data • Estimates of habitat data is provided Landcover • a sophisticated model of recreational demand in England and Wales. • The model assumes local people are aware of all the local areas of greenspace available to them. Which is unlikely to be the case. ORVal (Outdoor Recreation Valuation)

ORVal Summary data for specific geographies

Catchments ORVal Summary data for specific geographies Local Authorities ORVal Summary data for specific geographies

Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) Data issues Open Street Map and OS combined – somehow..

Cemetery

Cricket club Car park Shropshire Council – greenspace layers Context • Shropshire Council’s Local Plan – Green Infrastructure Supplementary Planning Document in development. • National Planning Policy Framework – increasing GI emphasis • Governments 25 Year Environment Plan: Indicators: Enhancement of green/blue infrastructure; Engagement with the natural environment; People engaged in social action for the environment; Health and wellbeing benefits

• Environment Bill – Nature Recovery Network; Local Nature Recovery Strategy • Biodiversity Net Gain – Biodiversity metric to score GI. Funding!! • The Office for National Statistics: incorporate natural capital into UK Environmental Accounts by 2020 • NEVO – Horizon Scanning tool for the natural environment with models and scenarios extending for each decade until 2050: https://www.leep.exeter.ac.uk/nevo/ Environmental Networks Map

This Network is a material consideration for planning applications Local Government, through the Environment Bill, are mandated to produce a Local Nature Recovery Strategy

http://bit.ly/SC-Shrop-Env-Network

A combination of core habitat, area of corridor, and number of indicator species could provide a measure of success Case-study: Benefits of park enhancements

Park in area of worst health scores for Indices of Multiple Deprivation. Worst 20% for England

ORVal – Outdoor Recreation Valuation: https://www.leep.exeter.ac.uk/orval/

Current situation % area Football pitch 20

Playground & Court Y Trees 2 Amenity grass 78

• ORVal reports values and visit estimates for existing and new greenspaces that are derived from a sophisticated model of recreational demand in England and Wales. • It makes estimates using area figures for basic habitats and the presence of features such as play areas or ponds. • Figures can be separated into socioeconomic groups. Scenario 1 % area for each Scenario ORVal – Outdoor Recreation Valuation Land use Current 1 2 Football pitch 20 20 20 Playground & Court Yes Yes Yes Flower meadow Trees 2 5 30 Natural grass 0 24 20 Marsh 0 3 2 Amenity grass 78 48 28 Flower Pond 0 2 2 meadow Tree Current land use Scenario 1 Football Pond pitch planting Amenity Football grass pitch Trees Reedbed Amenity grass Natural grass Trees Marsh

Pond

Scenario 2 – more trees Scenario 1 Benefits of park enhancements £600,000 £89,063 £100,000 ORVal – Outdoor Recreation Valuation £90,000 £489,613 £500,000 £80,000 £395,452 £70,000 £400,000 £58,267 £60,000 £300,000 £50,000 £40,304 £40,000 £200,000

£30,000 Carbon value Carbon Welfare vales Welfare £106,308 £20,000 £100,000 £10,000 £- £- Current Scenario 1 Scenario 2

Welfare vales Carbon value “By ‘welfare value’ we mean a figure describing the monetary equivalent of the welfare enjoyed by individuals as a result of having access to a greenspace. In economics this welfare value is often alternatively called an ‘economic value’ or a ‘willingness to pay’.” Ref: http://bit.ly/ORVal- WTP

Carbon values were derived using the methodology used in the Marches Ecosystem Assessment (2016): http://bit.ly/MEA-report Projected benefits of park enhancements £600,000 £100,000

£89,063 £90,000 1459 tCO2e £500,000 £489,613 £80,000

£395,452 £70,000 £400,000

£58,267 £60,000 934 tCO2e

£300,000 £50,000 157,434 £40,304 £40,000 120,389 Visits 646 tCO2e

£200,000 Visits Carbon Carbon value Welfare vales Welfare £30,000

£106,308 £20,000 £100,000

42,495 £10,000 Visits £- £- Current Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Welfare vales Carbon value Natural Environment Valuation Online (NEVO):

A web-based tool for natural capital and the sustainable management of natural resources. It assesses the value of ecosystem services relating to agriculture, recreation, forestry, carbon emissions, biodiversity and water quantity/quality

Forecasts to 2050

https://www.leep.exeter.ac.uk/nevo/ Shropshire Council ‘Innovate to thrive’

Is inspiration born here? Shropshire Council ‘Innovate to thrive’

Or is inspiration born here? Thanks! [email protected] 01743 258511