Thursday 28th February 2019 – Tottenham, London 40 reps and members of active greenspace Friends and community groups came together in what may have been the first ever UK greenspace community empowerment conference. The event was called and coordinated by the parkscommunityuk project, which is a lottery-funded initiative – backed by a range of national […]
Case Studies - ideas to inspire people to take action
The following are examples have been sent to us to showcase the kinds of things local park users can achieve. We hope they inspire others to take action too!
Building a network: Birmingham Open Spaces Forum
BOSF is a volunteer network organisation, set up at the end of 2004, that brings together all the community groups in Birmingham with an interest in green open spaces. Our main focus is supporting the volunteers who add value to the city’s open space.
Friends of Central Park dog show
Like many parks, Central Park in Peterborough, close to the city centre and originally a Victorian formal park, has a large population of dog-walkers. Some members of Friends of the Park are also dog-walkers and in early 2016 three of them approached the group to suggest we organise a fun dog show.
Dukes Meadows: Local people organise together to save their park
Dukes Meadows is a 170-acre site bordering the River Thames in Hounslow, West London. Twenty years ago, it was pretty derelict. The Pavilion had smashed windows and was covered in graffiti, kids joy rode cars on the meadows and then burnt them out. One weekend two cars were burnt on successive evenings up by the Band Stands. The community and volunteers are entirely responsible for regenerating the Meadows and transforming it from a derelict no go area into a lovely park.
Tree Care at Meadow Orchard
Meadow Orchard Project is 1.5 -2 acres in size. It’s a wild space, a disused area of wasteland that was developed by a dynamic group of volunteers to establish a nature conservation site based on permaculture principles for the public to enjoy and from which to learn. Permission was granted by the landowners, NHS Properties Ltd, in 2010. Haringey Council has listed the site as a grade one site for nature conservation.
Revitalising Lordship Recreation Ground
When the Friends of Lordship Rec was set up in 2001, Tottenham’s largest public park was poorly-maintained and virtually abandoned. Since then a community-led vision to regenerate the park has returned it to being a much used and loved open space. Here are just three of the projects that have contributed to that change.
Saving Turn Moss from non-community use development
Turn Moss is 2.7 hectares of open greenspace situated in Trafford, Greater Manchester between Stretford and Chorlton. In January 2018 planning permission was sought to develop approx. 25% as a training centre for Salford City Football Club which would have resulted in a sizeable area of Turn Moss being fenced off from public access.
Defeating a “land Grab” – Friends of Wandsworth Park
In May of 2017 we were informed that the neighbours adjacent to a piece of parkland (176 sq. m) alongside the Thames had submitted a planning application for ‘change of use’ with the intent of taking a private long-lease of the land to be incorporated into their already large private gardens.
Woodcock Park Mural – from eyesore to local landmark
In Woodcock Park there is a wall that lies next to the path that leads to the park. The wall was always painted what can only be described as snot green.
Green Tides: Adur and Worthing Green Spaces Partnership
Green Tides represents approximately 40 community green-space volunteer groups across Adur and Worthing.
