New Ways of Thinking about Parks and Local Greenspace Salisbury Area Greenspace Partnership Review and Appraisal Draft Document for Salisbury 14 November 2014 1 Contents Page 3 Introduction 4 Benefits of developing good quality greenspace 5 Current situation in Salisbury and the challenges 8 Addressing the challenges 13 Conclusion 14 List of Appendices Appendix A: Map showing SAGP area of concern Appendix B: List of SAGP partners and supporters Appendix C: National policy context and other reference documents Appendix D: SAGP feedback from workshops Appendix E: Illustrating some design options for conservation grassland Appendix F: Keep BritainTidy’s Green Flag Award details Appendix G: Generic grass cutting regimes/methods Appendix H: SAGP detailed mapping typology for greenspace audit Appendix I: Salisbury City Council parks and greenspace assets grouped to reflect SAGP typology Appendix J: Practical considerations for working with volunteers 2 New ways of thinking about parks and local greenspace: Salisbury Area Greenspace Partnership (SAGP) review and appraisal draft document for Salisbury 1.0 Introduction 1.1 This document is part of an appraisal and review that Salisbury Area Greenspace Partnership (SAGP) is carrying out with particular reference to grassland management over the whole of its area of concern. This covers the urban areas of Salisbury, Laverstock and Ford and Wilton, and parts of the adjoining parishes as shown on the map in Appendix A. This is the first stage of the review that will be widened out in due course to include other important elements of greenspace including the planted elements such as trees, woodland, hedges as well as infrastructure and the linkages between green spaces. 1.2 The reason and context for the current focus on Salisbury is because Salisbury City Council (SCC), which is the major landowner and manager of greenspace within the city, is currently carrying out its own review of parks and green spaces. The intention has been to support the City Council’s review and in due course, as part of SAGP’s influencing work, the appraisal will be extended to land owned and managed by others in the city and wider area. 1.3 SAGP recognises that SCC is in the process of evolving their new role following the 2009 local government reorganisation in Wiltshire. SAGP is similarly evolving its own role as a community-led group representing those with an interest in local greenspace. For the full list of partners see Appendix B. 1.4 At the launch of SAGP in 2012 by the then Mayor of Salisbury, Councillor John Abbott JP, there was support from partners for: providing a strong local voice for green space creating a more resilient and sustainable environment for people and wildlife in the Salisbury area developing community resources to help influence policy, planning and management, and secure the future of the local greenspace network This has now been incorporated into SAGP’s vision statement. There have been close links with the city council since that time and a city councillor representative as well as the city parks manager are members of the SAGP Steering Group. 1.5 This document is in draft for consultation and comes at a time when the importance of parks and all greenspace is increasingly recognised as intrinsic to the health and wellbeing of the nation and the diversity of its wildlife. At the same time, however, there are an increasing number of issues and challenges that are impacting on the quality and provision of local greenspace. SAGP would welcome feedback from SCC and looks forward to further dialogue and debate. It is also hoped that SCC will see value in what SAGP has to offer in terms of resources as well as enthusiasm and expertise. 3 2.0 Benefits of developing good quality greenspace 2.1 There have been significant changes in how we perceive and value greenspace which has implications for future management and community involvement. There is an increasing body of scientific evidence that supports the view that being ‘outdoors’ and having contact with the natural world and its wildlife is vital to our physical and mental wellbeing, particularly for children who may have little contact with nature. 2.2 This is reflected in national policy (see section 3.0 for details) and there is now a much greater emphasis on sustainability, working at a landscape scale and creating more resilient environments for people and wildlife. On the ground this is being achieved by establishing well designed green space networks or green infrastructure (GI) with a high degree of connectivity, and which is multifunctional and able to deliver a range of benefits known as ‘ecosystem services’. 2.3 Examples of ecosystem services include benefits to public health through recreation – exercise, play, relaxation and experiencing the natural world; providing an attractive landscape setting for our communities; green corridors for safer, cleaner movement on foot or bicycle; education linked to biodiversity and wildlife corridors, clean air and water; flood mitigation; fertile soils; food and fuel. Access to greenspace has been shown to have a positive impact on indices of deprivation. In addition there are important economic benefits impacting on our tourist industry, creating attractive and distinctive places to live and work, adding value to property and attracting businesses to invest in the area. Appendix C contains key reference documents. 3.0 Policy Context 3.1 There have been a number of recent significant changes to national policy which are of relevance when considering greenspace. Details can be found in Appendix C and the important documents include: the Government White Paper 2011 ‘The Natural Choice - securing the value of nature’ describes a shift in focus from piecemeal conservation to a more integrated landscape scale approach in which nature is properly valued. It supports GI and flags up the importance of ecosystem services. Local Nature Partnerships (LNP’s) have been set up across the country. In Wiltshire the LNP is called Link2Nature and is administered by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust on behalf of both Wiltshire Council (WC) and Swindon Borough Council (SBC) the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012 which requires every Unitary and County Council to have a GI strategy as an integral part of their Core Strategy. There is also a requirement for good design which is a key aspect of sustainability and is vital to ensuring development contributes positively to making places better for people the Health & Social Care Act 2012 transfers responsibility for Health and Wellbeing to local authorities. It flags up increasing awareness of the impact of the built and natural environment on people’s ability to lead physically active lives and maintain good mental wellbeing. For example, encouraging greater physical activity and using green space for recreation and exercise; addressing obesity; improving mental wellbeing; increasing opportunities for learning, employment, volunteering and social connectedness; improving air quality and the impacts of noise 4 the Localism Act 2011 introduces neighbourhood planning making local spatial plans the basis for local planning decisions and identifying the importance of community engagement. It also introduced the ‘duty to co-operate’ across administrative boundaries on local authorities and public bodies which is important for the delivery of green infrastructure In addition there is an extensive range of supportive documentation including publications by Natural England, Defra, the Landscape Institute and others that are also detailed in Appendix C. 3.2 At a more local level, recognition of the importance of greenspace is acknowledged in Wiltshire Council’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSA’s) and their Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The latter includes promoting walking and cycling, providing open green spaces close to homes, providing active health programmes, promoting the Green Gym scheme and supporting conservation volunteering. 3.3 The South Wiltshire Core Strategy still provides the strategy framework for spatial planning purposes until the Wiltshire Core Strategy is adopted. The topic papers and reports that form the evidence base used in the preparation of both documents, particularly in relation to landscape character, are saved policies and still remain current. Wiltshire’s Green Infrastructure Strategy is long overdue and is still under preparation. See Appendix C for details of saved policies and other references. 4.0 Current situation in Salisbury and the challenges 4.0.1 There are a number of issues impacting on our local green spaces and many of these were reflected by delegates at the facilitated workshops held as part of the launch of SAGP. For workshop feedback see Appendix D. 4.1 Parks and greenspaces are popular but are they as good as they could be? 4.1.1 Within the Salisbury Community Area consultations have shown that the city’s parks are highly valued by residents. Support for improving the quality of Salisbury’s greenspaces and developing wildlife corridors was clearly demonstrated during the wide-ranging public consultation undertaken by the Community Area Partnership prior to the development of ‘Our Salisbury - Community Area Plan’ 2012. 4.1.2 This interest was again clearly shown at the Salisbury Area Board JSA ‘What Matters to You event in March 2014 when the top priorities under ‘Natural Environment’ and ‘Health and Wellbeing’ categories were to ‘encourage and support community engagement in the protection, management and enhancement of our local green spaces’ and ‘promote more outdoor and cultural opportunities that support health and wellbeing.’ 4.1.3 SCC has recently made a significant investment in refurbishing Queen Elizabeth Gardens and it has become a flagship city centre park. However elsewhere there are issues of overuse, underuse and misuse. Victoria Park, one of the city’s oldest parks, is looking rather tired and is a good example of where the design and layout may need review and adjustment to meet current needs.