Written evidence submitted by the Friends of Longford Park [PKS 155]

 

Who Uses Parks

The Friends of Longford Park based in Stretford in the Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester have been working in partnership with Trafford Council for the last 15 years to organise community events and raise funds to improve the park.  I attach a link to our web site http://friendsoflongfordpark.org.uk/  so you can obtain more information about the history of the park and our organisation. Our motto is that we   support Longford Park, as it is the living breathing is the heart of Stretford. It is the largest park in Trafford and it is located on the border with Chorlton in Manchester. It is the major green space for a number of densely populated urban areas.

 

 

Earlier this year Friends of Longford Park received a small grant to publish a Community Map to promote all the organisations based in the park. We received the grant from the National Communities Resource Centre as part of the Community Futures Training and Small Grants Programme.

 

 

This has enabled us to do an audit to find out how many other community, sports and commercial organisations use the buildings and open spaces in the park. We had expected to find about 20 groups but were surprised to find that there are nearly 40 groups and businesses using the park on a regular basis. For information the attached PDF document lists all the formal groups that use the park. This includes a Parkrun that attracts over 400 participants every Saturday and a Scout Group that has existed for over 100 years and has 120 members. There are groups as diverse as the weekly Pram Active sessions for parents with newborns and a Retired Gentlemen’s Crown Green Bowling Club that meets 4 times each week in the bowling season.

Since this leaflet was published in June a second girls football team and a Community Cycling Club have been started and there are two new Dementia Friendly Walks being planned.

In addition to all the formal groups there are hundreds of dog walkers who visit twice each day, informal football, rounder’s, cricket, basketball and tennis matches, school visits. The Trafford Athletic Club in the park is used for all the local school sports days. Many of the club’s elite athletes use the park for cross-country training every week. The park paths are linked to Greater Manchester Transport Safe Cycle Routes to school. Many local children walk or cycle through the park daily to get to and from primary and secondary schools.

We estimate that that there are at least 100,000 visitors to the park each year. Parks are a great community asset. It is no exaggeration to say that on a sunny day the park is packed. Parks and open spaces enhance well being. With projected population growth for most parts of the country there is going to be more demand for 'breathing spaces'

 

The contribution of parks to the health and well being of communities

 

Parks are essential to the mental and physical well being of our local communities. They offer a wealth of opportunities for people of all ages to take part in healthy sports, social and community activities. They can enhance social cohesion and help to break down barriers that exist between different groups in society.  They are often the only place for recreation for families on low incomes who cannot afford to take holidays or pay to visit theatres, leisure centres, etc.

 

The impact of reductions in local authority budgets on parks

Continuing cut back in local authority funding for green/open spaces. Our council-Trafford-has been cutting funding since 2006,a process that has accelerated post 2010 with the austerity funding cuts to local authorities implemented by central government.

The impact on Longford Park includes

The Pets Corner was a much-loved area of the park for generations of local children. When the Council said funding cutbacks meant it would have to close pets corner a voluntary group was set up to keep it open. They have had to raise funds to cover all the running costs and find enough volunteers to keep the facility open to the public throughout the year. This puts a lot of pressure on a small number of people to keep it functioning, as there aren't a lot of volunteers

 

As a voluntary friends group we are concerned that further cut backs might lead to there being greater dependency upon voluntary inputs? We have a very small committee and have great difficulty in attracting sufficient volunteers to cope with our existing activities. We do not have the capacity to take on any additional responsibilities or the overall management of the park.

 

Elsewhere in the park there are volunteers involved in a range of activities, but it can’t be assumed that when current volunteers retire they will always be replaced by others with the commitment, time and desire to do something for other people for free. In our experience there is nearly always a struggle to get enough volunteers, it is something that only a relatively small number of people will commit to on a regular and long term basis.

 

 

The contribution from other schemes such as 'community payback' can be beneficial, but it can also be problematic and frustrating. A great deal depends upon the quality and skills of the supervisors and especially upon the attitude of those attending. Locally the input is only a fraction of that provided by volunteers, of which there aren't enough.

 

The Council is looking at ways of reducing its responsibility for other areas of the park via community asset transfer or leasing arrangements. In the last 10 years there have been two failed heritage lottery bids to improve some of the important heritage areas of the park. This includes a Shippon Complex and Stable buildings, which have links to the former ownership of the park by John Rylands one of the founders of the weaving industry during the industrial revolution. These buildings are now becoming unsafe due to lack of repair/capital investment to replace the leaking roof.  There are major problems with flooding in some areas of the park due to defective drains. Resolving this issue will also require major capital investment.

 

The Council has outsourced the management of the park to Amay a private contractor for the next 15 years in an attempt to make further budget cuts. It remains to be seen whether a private company is able to manage more efficiently than the Council with 20% less revenue funding. We would oppose the selling off of any parkland. We want to avoid the short sighted example of school playing field disposal, also the loss of sports facilities e.g. tennis clubs. Once gone they are not replaced.

 

What the administrative status of parks should be in light of declining local authority resources for non-statutory services

How new and existing parks can best be supported

 

Parks should be a statutory service. They should be viewed as an essential part of the National Health Service. Recent evidence has shown that taking a regular half hour walk in green surroundings is as effective as medication in treating high blood pressure. Over 10 years ago some of our volunteers were trained as part of a British Heart Foundation initiative to organise regular Health Walks in the park.  Our walk then became part of the Trafford Stride Walking Project. Stride walks are now taking place regularly in many Trafford Parks in an attempt to reduce the incidence of heart disease. More resources should be put into this type of initiative. Any efficiency savings/reductions in drugs budgets achieved by Medications Management Teams in Area Health Authorities should be used to fund parks and green spaces. GPs should be trained to issue Healthy Living Prescriptions as an alternative or in addition to drug therapies for a range of conditions should as obesity, depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, anxiety. Parks should be viewed as an essential national resource in resolving the childhood obesity crisis.

 

Local authorities should continue to be responsible for parks. They are in the best position to assess the needs of local communities.  Considering the lack of resources available to them they are doing a fantastic job of managing parks.

We do not support any suggestions to transfer green/open spaces to voluntary trusts. Volunteer input should be to support and supplement council provision.

We believe that government should be doing more not less to safeguard our green/open spaces. They need to be protected and enhanced. The public like these areas and we think they are great for community well-being and local civic pride.

What additional or alternative funding is available and what scope is there for local authorities to generate revenue from park users

See above. Regarding Local authorities ability to generate additional revenue. Apart from raising the Council Tax many of the options for increasing income might be to the detriment of local park users. Longford Park is near to Old Trafford Cricket and Football Grounds. The Council has been asked to consider allowing areas of the park to be used for additional parking for large events such as concerts at the stadiums. This is likely to inconvenience park users, surrounding residents and destroy many essential features such as football pitches.

Other funding suggestions:-

  1. More funding from the National Lottery even if it does mean fewer gold medals at the Olympics. Far more people will benefit. Too much lottery funding is being spent on elitist projects that are not accessible to vast the majority of the population
  2. Cut back some of the 'pensioner lock' subsidies and transfer the monies to green/open spaces
  3. Increase taxes on alcohol sugar and fast food/takeaway outlets to raise money for green/open spaces, health and litter collection. There is linkage between all of these.
  4. Councils be required to add a small percentage to council tax with specific allocation to green/open spaces
  5. Cut back significantly the number of peers entitled to receive expenses in the House of Lords
  6. Don't spend £4 billion pounds on the renovation of the Houses of Parliament. Look for a cheaper option even if it means relocating to a different site and buildings.

 

  1. Why is £60m of taxpayer’s money being contributed to the Thames Garden Bridge in London? There are already many fine bridges over the river in central London. At a time of funding cutbacks to green-open spaces this sum would have benefited many more people if it had been invested in public spaces. The Garden Bridge Trust should have been told to raise all its expenditure from the private sector. London is awash with private wealth especially after the benign taxation policies of recent decades.

 

 

September 2016