Future of Parks and Greenspaces in Southport

by
6th September 2016

Future of Parks and Greenspaces in Southport

Sefton Council values all its parks and greenspaces across the borough and is planning a consultation on their future management.

A report titled ‘Better Places Greener Spaces – the Future of Parks and Greenspaces’ has just been published and outlines a planned consultation later in the year.

The report highlights all the hard work and links with community and Friends of groups along with other partners such as schools, colleges and businesses, and looks to develop this further in the future.

Some of the key points from the report include:

• The level of volunteer input and support for parks and greenspaces has been massive in recent years, and Sefton Council want to continue to support and develop this over time

• Parks and greenspaces will have to continue to change, but it is not proposed to close any parks or greenspaces

• Sefton Council can continue to deliver good quality parks and greenspaces that meet the needs of our community and reach national recognised standards for quality

• All sites will be safe and useable but some smaller less used spaces will require some design changes

• Sefton Council will continue to put the community at the heart of managing our parks and greenspaces

• Sefton Council will continue to find new and creative ways to fund parks differently in the future 

• Subject to the call in period, the report will then go to the Consultation Panel with a view of engaging with the public later in the year.

A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “We are extremely lucky in Sefton to have so many parks and greenspaces, many of which are recognised through the Green Flag award scheme, Britain in Bloom judging and other quality awards.

“In the last 5 years alone we have witnessed a significant amount of investment and development in them.

“This includes more than £8m of new capital investment in parks and greenspaces and £500k has been invested in providing parts and maintenance to our playgrounds alone. In real terms we now have 16% more play equipment in our parks than we did 5 years ago.

“Despite public parks having seen a reduction in budget, we have maintained a strong commitment to providing good opportunities for play and other uses of our parks and greenspaces.

“Through the recent Imagine Sefton 2030 engagement process, we know our parks and greenspaces mean so much to so many people in Sefton and beyond, and this report sets out a consultation looking at their future management.

“This will help us move forward in the way we run them in the face of major Government cuts.

“A formal consultation process is set to start in the autumn and we will be revealing further details in due course.”

Sefton Council is having to find a further £64m worth of savings between 2017/2020 and is looking at how it provides numerous services across the borough.

 

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