BACK AND FRONT GARDENS
REPORT OF THE SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW COMMITTEE
London Borough of Islington
April 2007
1 FOREWORD FROM THE CHAIR
When it comes to public green space Islington is a “nearly” borough. We nearly have Hampstead Heath; we nearly have Finsbury Park; we nearly have Clissold Park. Unfortunately, we don’t actually have any of them.
In terms of green space generally, we have five million square metres in Islington. Of that, three million (sixty percent!) is private garden. This has to mean that what Islington people do with and in their gardens could have twice as much effect on our climate and wildlife as what Islington council does with our public green spaces.
Realising this led us to start our scrutiny of how Islington people use their front and back gardens – and what they could do to contribute more to our health, pleasure and climate.
We have looked around Islington at small communal gardens, gardens on estates, playgrounds, and forgotten corners. There are some outstanding examples of how people can make their neighbourhoods better places to share, and for quality as well as quantity we have looked at some of the star turns in the Islington in Bloom competition.
In both the private and the public housing sectors there is an opportunity to set up the garden equivalent of a dating agency. There are gardens without “gardeners” and there are “gardeners” without gardens. We want to see more gardens brought back into use with volunteering schemes using organisations such as Homes for Islington, Time Banks and Groundwork.
A campaign is needed to raise people’s awareness of the issues around gardens, particularly bio-diversity and sustainability.
One of the most worrying factors in private gardens is the use of front gardens for car parking, usually involving concreting over the soil, and the epidemic of patios and decking in back gardens. Luckily, controlled parking schemes have reduced the use of pavement crossovers, thus keeping cars out of front gardens, but decking and patios are still the gardening equivalent of convenience food and we are still puzzling as to how we wean people off them.
Important contributors to the life of our gardens – and our pavements – are trees. These we have not ignored, and we have heard how trees are under threat from climate change, and how different species may take over from our more traditional ones.
Even if we could get every square centimetre of garden back into use, there is another huge untapped source of green space attached to each house and building – the roof! We have looked at the use of green and brown roofs, and are recommending that these are promoted and encouraged.
2 The subject of Back and Front Gardens seems at first sight to be small, parochial and of little real interest, but we have found it to be both fascinating and, we believe, vital to our future well-being. Here is a tremendous challenge for our council, our residents and all the organisations involved to take our recommendations and turn them into what we trust should be a fruitful reality.
I would like to thank all of the contributors to this review, as well as the officers of the democratic services team and the members of the committee especially those who spent time on visits!
Councillor Wally Burgess
3 MEMBERSHIP OF THE SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW COMMITTEE
Councillors: Wally Burgess (Chair) Barbara Smith (Vice Chair) Michael O’Sullivan Anna Berent Lisa Spall Tracy Ismail James Murray Emily Fieran-Reed Katie Dawson
Substitutes: Mouna Hamitouche Kelly Peasnell Gary Doolan Julia Williams Paul Smith Ruth Polling Richard Watts Fiona Dunlop
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The sustainability review committee would like to thank all the groups and individuals who assisted the scrutiny process and helped to shape the recommendations in the report.
OFFICER SUPPORT
Scrutiny & Democratic Services: Gareth Jenkins
Greenspace and Leisure Bob Gilbert
4 THE COMMITTEES RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The council should investigate the feasibility of a scheme to match residents wanting gardens to people who do not or are unable to use their gardens and that consideration should be given to the methodology employed by Islington time banks to carry out similar schemes
2. The committee recognises the importance of green and brown roofs, and green walls, given the limited open space in Islington. Accordingly, the committee recommends that: • The council should take a lead and increase the use of green and brown roofs and green walls on their own developments • Planning should increase their targets for the amount of green and brown roofs and green walls in the borough year on year • The proposed sustainable living centre should work with planning and building control to promote advice to developers and residents on environmental building techniques including green and brown roofs and green walls • The council should work to encourage balcony gardens and roof gardens • The council should work to encourage planting in tree pits
3. The committee recognises the problem caused across London by people concreting over front gardens to provide parking spaces. Whilst this is not a problem in Islington, the committee recommends that this situation is monitored and prompt action taken if it does become a problem.
4. The committee recommends that the council conduct an audit, including financial implications, of all disused areas of land in the borough and their suitability for adoption as pocket parks/community gardens
5. The committee notes that the council is carrying out a borough-wide survey of garden wildlife in Islington. This should be used as an opportunity to engage with residents regarding back and front gardens and the issues raised in this review. The committee feels that this survey should be repeated annually to allow the council to monitor the state of wildlife in Islington.
6. The committee recommends further that this survey, along with the council’s biodiversity action plan for gardens, be used as the starting point for an educational campaign to inform people of the contribution that gardens make to biodiversity, sustainability and regeneration in the borough. This to also address paving over of back gardens.
5 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Overview Committee approved the priority topics for scrutiny at their meeting on the 15th June 2006.
1.2 The Sustainability Review Committee, as part of its work programme agreed to undertake a review into back and front gardens.
2. OBJECTIVES
2.1 To review the economic, environmental and social contribution of front and back gardens to life in the borough and how we can maximise these.
2.2 The objectives of the review were as follows: