Seven out of ten parents with young children are concerned that council budget cuts will have a negative impact on parks and green spaces, according to a new survey by The Parks Alliance.
A new report, The National Playground: growing the next generation, highlights the importance of parks to family life. It reveals that parents with children under the age of 10 are most concerned about the future of parks, with eight out of ten of these parents visiting parks once a month.
The data also shows that 48% of all children in England visit local urban parks, with parks being visited an estimated 827 million times in 2014/15.
Mark Camley, chairman of The Parks Alliance, said: ‘The case for maintaining parks is clear but their future is under threat. Since 2010, 86% of parks managers’ report cuts to revenue budgets.
'The Park’s Alliance is concerned about the risk of closures, sell-offs and a drop in the quality of our green spaces and calls for a public Inquiry in to how parks are funded.’
A parish council came under fire this week for being the first in the world to charge parkrun members to use its park.
