Lands cape & Ame ni t y
August 2020 Special Supplement
w w w . l a n d s c a p e a n d a m e n i t y. c o m
New campaign launched in face of littering epidemic in parks been stretched by the challenges of dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic and 42% of local authorities reported having lower staffing levels than usual. Despite this, almost half (46%) say they will need to put extra staff in to manage parks over the summer holiday period and will need, on average, to spend an additional £47,000 to cope. Now, to support parks staff over the long summer holiday period, Keep Britain Tidy and its Centre for Social Innovation has launched a new campaign under the umbrella of ‘Love Parks’. Keep Britain Tidy’s new survey shows that more than half of the country’s parks have had to pull in extra resources to deal with the issues, including litter and antisocial behaviour, since lockdown was eased. Of those, 81% had to spend more on clearing up litter, 79% on bin emptying and 72% on maintaining public order or enforcing lockdown rules.
The local authorities who responded to the survey – more than 100 of them in total – said they had spent, on average, an extra £33,000 on managing parks in the past three months, with one reporting increased spending of up to £150,000. Councils also reported clearing up, on average, 57 tonnes of additional waste from their parks. All this has come at a time when local authorities’ resources have
Richard McIlwain, Deputy Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “The UK was the birthplace of the public park and their value was recognised by many people during lockdown, as a haven of greenspace for exercise and relaxation. “But, as lockdown measures have eased over the past three months, we’ve seen a significant minority of people abuse these treasured
The Association of Play Industries (API) has been highlighting the concerning decline in public play provision for some time.
Although children were allowed back in to play areas in early July, the response from government
“Clearly, effective and welltargeted enforcement will always have a role to play in curbing this behaviour, however, we also want to inspire people to look after our parks and the key workers who look after them. “Hence, this campaign, which will be available to every local authority in the country and which is based on behavioural science, will act as an effective nudge to actively encourage people to treat our beautiful parks – and the amazing staff who work in them – with respect this summer.” The campaign has been funded as part of the government’s Coronavirus response and will be bolstered with additional campaign activity led by Defra over the summer both online and in locations near to beaches and national parks. Keep Britain Tidy
The new Parks and Green Space Network – a network of nearly 50 parks and green space organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors – had its inaugural Zoom meeting on Friday 17 July.
on funding has been less than supportive. Local Authorities are under even more significant budgetary pressure and are in the unenviable position of prioritising their available funds. API Chair Mark Hardy said: “Children have got out of the habit of being active during lockdown, physical activity is vitally important to our society.
Councillor Gerald VernonJackson, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: “Councils are working hard to keep parks and public spaces clean. “Services have been disrupted during the pandemic but staff are determined to tackle a backlog of parks maintenance as they return from temporary redeployment to other areas, including supporting bin collections and helping shielded residents.
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“Responsibility for clearing up litter lies with the person dropping it or leaving it behind. Councils need the public’s cooperation to help keep parks, green spaces and streets free from litter. “Littering is always unacceptable – it is unsightly, tarnishes our local environments and council taxpayers are left to pick up the costs to clear it up. Councils run a range of awareness and clean-up campaigns, but fines can be issued to people who persistently ignore warnings.”
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First meeting of new Parks and Green Space Network
Warnings fall on deaf ears
The API’s recent #PlayMustStay campaign showed a 44% decrease in spend on public play areas since 2017 and an accompanying survey confirmed that the public were equally concerned at the effects of this reduction. In particular the shift from outdoor play to a more sedentary childhood indoors was considered not only a physical impact but also a mental health concern.
spaces, with shocking scenes of anti-social behaviour, leading to littering, deposit of human waste and abuse of parks staff.
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“Active children become active adults and without a fit and healthy society we are less able to cope with future virus’s and of course the cost of obesity to the public purse is well understood. The relatively small cost of providing specific funding pales into insignificance compared to the health benefits”. The Association of Play Industries
The Network, hosted by the Landscape Institute (LI) and created in partnership with The Parks Alliance (TPA), comprises nearly 50 parks and green space organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors across the UK. It aims to provide a UK-wide voice for parks and public green spaces, and the people and organisations that create, maintain, invest in and use them.
The Network will work collaboratively and inclusively across the sector to promote parks and green spaces at the local, regional, national and international levels. In its first meeting, the Network: • Agreed its priorities for a postCOVID Green Recovery • Identified key leadership themes for the coming year • Signed up to develop a new Level 3 Apprenticeship Programme, aimed at young people who are underrepresented in the parks sector, to help make a parks profession fit for the future
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