“All I need is the air that I breathe…..

and to love my park”…….well that wasn’t quite the song lyric but perhaps it should have been! As COVID-19 has taken its toll on physical and mental well-being local parks have become the life blood of communities. Providing fresh air, greenery and wide open spaces for people to walk, cycle and exercise during lockdown. Parks have enjoyed something of a renaissance as people have realised that expensive days out, with journeys by car, are not necessary to our day to day enjoyment of the great outdoors. 

Parks services have become exemplar local public services during the lockdown, managing risks, whilst keeping parks safe and accessible to local residents. Parks professionals, deploying their knowledge of land management, to ensure sustainable outcomes post-COVID-19, have risen to the challenge; enhancing bio-diversity whilst protecting the long-term operational recovery of parks assets like sports pitches and bowling greens. Critical actions to preserve these local green assets in the form of our parks and open spaces.

APSE is delighted to have played its part in new industry guidance produced in collaboration with CPF, the LGA, National Lottery Heritage Lottery Fund, the Parks Action Group, the Midlands Parks Forum, the National Trust and industry experts. This new guidance ‘Managing Public Parks During COVID-19’ is a must read for industry professionals and local councillors alike, sharing best practice in these testing times. 

You can download the research, free of charge, using this link.

 http://www.cfpuk.co.uk/response-to-covid-19/