Green Space Strategy for Bournemouth 2007-11
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Green Space Strategy for Bournemouth 2007-11 (Final Draft – November 2006) Foreward By Councillor Bronwen Littlewood, Cabinet Member for Environment & Leisure To be added ii Contents 1. Vision………………………………………………………………………………………….1 2. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….2 3. What We Have Done………………………………………………………………….3 4. Survey Findings………………………………………………………………………….6 5. Audit Findings…………………………………………………………………………..8 6. About the Borough……………………………………………………………………10 7. Issues & Constraints………………………………………………………………….13 8. Action Plan……………………………………………………………………………….15 i. Parks & Gardens…………………………………………………………..15 ii. Play Areas…………………………………………………………………….17 iii. Outdoor Sports Facilities, Pitches & Courts……………….20 iv. Amenity Sites (informal grass areas)………………………….21 v. Allotments…………………………………………………………………..22 vi. School Sites………………………………………………………………….23 vii. Cemeteries & Churchyards………………………………………….23 viii. Seafront……………………………………………………………………….24 ix. All Typologies………………………………………………………………24 9. Countryside & Nature Conservation……………………….………………27 10. Global Warming & Sustainability…………………………………………….31 11. Disability………………………………………………………………………………….35 12. Marketing, Promotion & Community Involvement………………….36 13. Anti-social behaviour……………………………………………………………….38 14. Next Steps………………………………………………………………………………..39 Appendix 1 – Site Map…………………………………………………………………….40 Appendix 2 – Electoral Ward Map……………………..…………………………..42 Appendix 3 – Neighbourhood Map…………………………………………………..44 Appendix 4 – Nature Conservation Strategy Appendix 5 – Woodland & Urban Tree Strategy ii iii 1. Vision More people will spend more time enjoying local public spaces for rest, recreation, sport and the appreciation of nature; they will always value Bournemouth’s open spaces as being special. by India de Lancy Green, 4 All the artwork used within the strategy were winning entries in the Perfect Green Place Competition 2004. The competition was designed to help children let us know what they liked most about green spaces, but was also an incentive in gaining questionnaire responses from 1-17 year olds. 1 2. Introduction The Green Space Strategy is a document to outline options for the future management of Bournemouth’s open spaces, from parks & countryside to allotments, cemeteries, playing fields and verges. It is vital that we produce a policy document for several reasons: • To continue to meet the requirements of Planning Policy Guidance Note 17 (from the Department for Communities and Local Government); which outlines the need for all local authorities with a responsibility for public open space to assess supply, quality and need for different types of open space; • To consult with residents about what they like and dislike about Bournemouth’s open spaces, and what they would like to see more of; • To set out our future objectives for biodiversity, following on from National and Dorset Biodiversity Action Plans (which stem from Agenda 21 of the Rio Earth Summit of 1992); • To collate corporate and national policy information into a form that can be disseminated for use on a site to site level; • To evaluate ways of resourcing future plans in a way that is sustainable both financially and ecologically. • To contribute to a package of mitigation measures that may be required arising from development in the town (which may have significant effects on nature conservation sites of European importance). 2 3. What We Have Done: In order to develop a successful strategy a great deal of research has been undertaken to find out what we already have, where it is, and what condition it is in; and also to engage with a representative cross section of Bournemouth’s 164,000 residents and find out what they like, dislike and wish for from our open spaces. i. Public Consultation Extensive consultation work has been undertaken to understand the usage habits and views of the Borough’s resident population. Questionnaires and workshops were undertaken with: • Bournemouth Citizen’s Panel (832 questionnaire responses from a representative sample of adults/18+) • Pre-School Children (47 questionnaire responses from parents) • Primary School Children (workshops & questionnaires, 208 responses from 5- 11 yrs) • Secondary School Children (707 questionnaire responses from 11-16 yrs) • Disability Forum (workshops arranged through Disability Wessex with over 20 disabled people attending) • Ethnic/Religious Minority Groups (workshop & questionnaires with 31 responses from Islamic, Chinese and Korean communities) • User Groups & Clubs (79 questionnaire responses from clubs, concessionaires and organisations with an interest in Bournemouth’s open spaces). • Monthly visitor surveys have also been undertaken at 15 park sites across the Borough since September 2005, these create an annual survey sample of 1200 park users. 3 ii. Site Audits Over 100 audits of Bournemouth’s green spaces have been evaluated using a scoring system similar to that used in Green Flag1 judging. This covered all sites managed by Leisure Services & Bereavement Services. Sites were scored with regard to cleanliness, maintenance, sustainability, heritage /conservation, being welcoming and being safe. The audits help to highlight sites that are currently under-utilised, so that future options can be considered. The BEAT (Bournemouth Environmental Advisory Team) partnership2 has also undertaken basic habitat surveys of all these sites; the results of this survey are due in Autumn 2006. All green spaces within the Borough have been digitally mapped and classified according to what facilities are available (e.g. bowls, tennis, play, football etc). Furthermore, detailed condition surveys have been undertaken for all hard landscape features to inform our Asset Management Plan. iii. Policy Research National, Regional and Local Policy has been researched to pick out those elements that apply to the management of the Borough’s parks and open spaces. Future policy, with regard to Bournemouth’s green spaces, has been developed within this framework. The Green Space Strategy has been developed alongside the Local Development Framework for Bournemouth (due in 2007) with the specific aim of harmonisation of policies between Business Units. 1 Green Flag is a national award designed to promote high standards of management and maintenance within parks and open spaces, it is currently managed by the Civic Trust. 2 BEAT is a partnership of Bournemouth Borough Council, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Bournemouth Natural Science Society, Natural England and Bournemouth University. It also gains advice from two independent ecologists. 4 Other local policy documents of particular relevance to parks and open spaces which have all been consulted are: the Community Plan, Cultural Strategy, Leisure Strategy, Local Transport Plan and Climate for Change Strategy. The Green Space Strategy has been developed as a single plan for open space management and includes the Nature Conservation Strategy and Tree & Woodland Strategy. iv. Usage & Demand for Facilities Since 1996 Sport England have been undertaking household surveys investigating national participation levels in sports, looking particularly at the differences in participation between sexes, ages, race and socio-economic groups. These figures can help Bournemouth to calculate anticipated future demand for facilities, but they do not take into account local trends in participation. From November 2006 Sport England will also be releasing data on baseline levels of physical activity for towns and cities; it will include a representative sample of 1000 Bournemouth residents. This information will be useful in helping us to understand patterns of physical activity and how to plan to increase activity levels. It is important that usage figures are collected for all the facilities that the Borough provides. Such figures will assist in assessing which facilities are successful and those that are not, and also to help evaluate whether initiatives such as investment, subsidy or promotion can stimulate growth. Currently there are areas in which usage figures are inadequate; these include tennis and bowls. It would also be valuable to undertake some survey work on the popularity of some of our smaller equipped play areas to gain an idea of usage levels. 5 4. Survey Findings Throughout most of the questionnaires with both individuals and groups it was established that people used local spaces (less than half a mile from the home) most frequently, and in turn good local spaces promoted regular green space usage; they are accessed most commonly on foot. It was also clear that whilst people generally rated Bournemouth’s maintenance of parks as good, there were concerns about levels of dog fouling, the condition & availability of toilets and cafes, and safety & security. The top three activities in parks and open spaces for adults were: walking or cycling, sitting & relaxing and enjoying nature. For the teenage population the top three activities were: sitting/relaxing, exercise/sport and organised events. by Lucy Bradshaw Whilst older people placed a high value on the quality of the landscape or natural environment, younger people were much more interested in the level of facilities (particularly sports/play and toilets). Ethnic minority groups appeared to be more concerned with their personal security in parks and open spaces than the rest of the population. The disability forum highlighted many of the obstacles faced by people with disabilities; particular attention was drawn to the lack of a single site designed with inclusive