{"id":16776,"date":"2017-09-26T16:04:21","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T15:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=16776"},"modified":"2017-09-25T16:32:06","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:32:06","slug":"defra-pledges-500000-for-new-action-group-to-grow-future-of-public-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=16776","title":{"rendered":"Defra pledges \u00a3500,000 for new action group to grow future of public parks"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/UK_Gov_public_parks.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-16777\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/UK_Gov_public_parks.png\" alt=\"UK Gov public parks\" width=\"250\" height=\"163\" \/><\/a>England\u2019s Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones , for Defra, launched a new Parks Action Group to help England\u2019s public parks and green spaces meet the needs of communities now and in the future.<\/h3>\n<h6><em>Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Defra writes:<\/p>\n<p>The new Parks Action Group will include experts from the world of horticulture, leisure, heritage and tourism, and will be tasked with bringing forward proposals to address some of the issues faced by public parks and other green spaces across England. To support them, government is providing \u00a3500,000 funding to kick start their work.<\/p>\n<p>The action group will propose what steps can be taken in line with the government response to the recent House of Common\u2019s Communities and Local Government Select Committee report into the future of parks and green spaces. Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones said:<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We recognise the value of parks and green spaces to local communities \u2013 including reducing loneliness, increasing wellbeing, and revitalising town and city centres. But we need to do more to make sure future generations are continuing to enjoy their benefits. That is why we have announced a new expert-led Parks Action Group to work closely with the sector to find the right solutions\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>This latest development builds on action the government has taken to date to encourage more people to make better use of parks including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In December 2015, the government published the \u2018Sporting future: a new strategy for an active nation\u2019 which set out the importance of sport and physical activity. The first annual report on the implementation of \u2018sporting future\u2019 was published with a specific focus on the themes of central government, local government and outdoor recreation.<\/li>\n<li>In February 2016 the government awarded over \u00a31 million to improve 87 small pockets of unloved, undeveloped or derelict land to transform them into 87 green spaces that the whole community can enjoy.<\/li>\n<li>The government has announced that is to continue the Green Flag Awards license for making sure that Britain\u2019s best parks and green spaces will continue to be recognised for another 5 years. For 20 years, the Green Flag Awards have been recognising the best of green outdoor spaces in the UK, for people to enjoy and setting standards for park managers across the country to try to emulate. Many parks have won the award, but winners also include more unusual spaces such as social housing developments, cemeteries, canals, and shopping centres.<\/li>\n<li>Parks research published from the charity Fields in Trust shows that living close to and visiting parks and green spaces can increase people\u2019s wellbeing and improve their health. The research also highlights the importance of parks as spaces for neighbours to socialise away, helping to reduce the risk of loneliness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fields in Trust\u2019s report, among others, will be fundamental to the Parks Action Group\u2019s work moving forward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Further information<br \/>\n<\/strong>The House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee report: \u2018the future of public parks\u2019 published in February 2017, made 17 recommendations that are addressed in full in the government\u2019s response published 19 September 2017.<\/p>\n<p>The direction of the Parks Action Group will be determined by park sector experts in co-operation with officials from a number of government departments. The Action Group will consider the recommendations from the government\u2019s response to the report and propose new projects and actions that will help our parks and green spaces thrive.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Members of the Parks Action Group<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones will chair the inaugural meeting. The members of the Parks Action Group are:<\/li>\n<li>Drew Bennellick, Head of Landscape &amp; Natural Heritage UK, Heritage Lottery Fund<\/li>\n<li>Matthew Bradbury, CEO, Parks Alliance<\/li>\n<li>Graham Duxbury, CEO, Groundwork<\/li>\n<li>Helen Griffiths, CEO, Fields In Trust<\/li>\n<li>Ian Leete, Senior Advisor on Culture, Tourism and Sport, Local Government Association<\/li>\n<li>Dave Morris, Chair, National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces<\/li>\n<li>Paul O\u2019Brien, CEO, Association of Public Service Excellence<\/li>\n<li>Ellie Robinson, Assistant Director, National Trust<\/li>\n<li>Dave Solly, Natural England<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Parks Action Group\u2019s recommendations will be implemented through a cross-government group bringing together the relevant government departments including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Department for Environment, Food &amp; Rural Affairs (Defra)<\/li>\n<li>Department of Health (DH)<\/li>\n<li>Department for Education (DfE)<\/li>\n<li>Department for Culture, Media &amp; Sport (DCMS)<\/li>\n<li>Home Office (HO)<\/li>\n<li>Department for Business, Energy &amp; Industrial Strategy (BEIS)<\/li>\n<li>Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Office address &amp; general enquiries<\/strong>: 2 Marsham Street,London SW1P 4DF<\/p>\n<p>General enquiries number for member of the public 030 3444 0000<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/government-pledges-500000-for-new-action-group-to-grow-future-of-public-parks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more&#8230;.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>England\u2019s Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones , for Defra, launched a new Parks Action Group to help England\u2019s public parks and green spaces meet the needs of communities now and in the future. Contains public sector information licensed &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=16776\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16778,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16776\/revisions\/16778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}