Love your parks and help shape the borough’s Greenspaces Strategy
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Love your parks and help shape the borough’s Greenspaces Strategy 30 July 2024 Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is inviting everyone who visits the borough’s green spaces to help shape a new strategy that will make sure its parks and open spaces continue to meet the needs of local people and wildlife. By launching the first phase of consultation during Love Parks Week, the Council is recognising the important role that green spaces play in people’s everyday lives, as well as the need to plan for their long-term environmental and financial sustainability. The Borough of Reigate & Banstead is home to 12,900 hectares of primarily open countryside, including significant natural landmarks like the North Downs escarpment and the Greensand Ridge, three Sites of Special Scientific and Nature Conservation Interest and large areas of woodland, such as Banstead Woods. This month, two of the Council’s most popular parks, Priory Park in Reigate and Memorial Park in Redhill, have both been awarded the coveted Green Flag accreditation for the eighth consecutive year (with Priory Park first achieving its Green Flag in 2009). The Council’s Greenspaces team is responsible for the management of more than 70 parks, which includes many lesser known but much-loved local gems, such as Preston Park and Ifold Park. About the strategy All of the borough’s green spaces are essential for providing recreational opportunities, supporting local biodiversity and enhancing the quality of life for more than 150,000 residents. Having a Greenspaces Strategy will address current and future needs by improving the quality and accessibility of these much-loved community assets. It will provide a clear and structured approach to managing the borough’s green spaces to meet the needs of local people and wildlife. Cllr Nadean Moses, Executive Member for Sustainability and Leisure, says: “We’re committed to improving the quality and accessibility of our parks and open spaces to make them even more enjoyable for all. We know they already offer invaluable health and wellbeing benefits but incorporating more sustainable practices and supporting biodiversity is vital to improving our air quality and contributing to climate change resilience. During Love Parks Week, as we celebrate our Green Flag successes and all the green spaces that are treasured by people of all ages, I urge everyone to get involved with shaping our Greenspaces Strategy. It’s important that we act now to plan for the long-term environmental and financial future of these popular and essential community assets.” Have your say The Council is working with Knight, Kavanagh & Page to develop a strategy that reflects the collective priorities of all those who use and rely on our greenspaces and are keen to encourage participation from a broad cross-section of visitors. Anyone can have their say by completing a short survey about their experience of the borough’s greenspaces and how they can be improved:
The first phase of consultation will close on 29 September 2024. The Council expects to start is second phase of consultation on a draft of the strategy later in the autumn. More information about the strategy, including links to the survey and information about the borough’s parks and green spaces can be found at www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/greenspaces-strategy Love your park The summer holidays are a particularly busy time for the borough’s parks and open spaces and the Council’s ‘Love your park’ campaign encourages all visitors to do their bit to respect the environment and help to make sure that everyone can enjoy these important spaces. Visitors are reminded to:
Photo caption Redhill Common ENDS |
