Drones in local government – getting it right
Chris Gee outlines the key findings of recent research into the use of drone technology by local councils.
Council adopts new grass cutting approach to save bees
02/12/2019 Hertfordshire County Council is set to try out a new approach to grass cutting in an attempt to preserve wildflowers and the bees who rely on them. |
Hedges around parks can halve pollution, study finds
21/11/2019 Planting a hedge in front of a park can cut air pollution in half, a new study has found. |
Council accidentally cuts down 800 young trees
20/11/2019 Reading Borough Council has apologised to community volunteers after accidentally digging up hundreds of newly planted saplings. |
The launch of the 2020 Street Design Awards
05/11/2019 The Street Design Awards 2020 have now been launched to celebrate best practice and innovation across the UK. |
Council chiefs sceptical of £1.35m parks fund
28/10/2019 Local government leaders call for ‘long-term, sustainable funding’ to support green spaces in response to the Government’s launch of a £1.35m pocket parks fund. |
A quarter of London’s parks have unsafe air quality
11/10/2019 One in four of green spaces in London breach safety limits for air quality, new analysis has revealed. |
New financial model needed for national parks, review says
23/09/2019 A review of the way in which green spaces are managed could see more affordable housing built in rural areas and the introduction of a new financial model for national parks. |
Government welcomes plans to create West Midlands national park
08/08/2019 Whitehall has welcomed proposals to create a new West Midlands urban national park that would span more than seven cities and open up hundreds of miles of green space. |
London becomes world's first capital to achieve National Park City status
22/07/2019 London has become the first capital city in the world to be named as a National Park City. |
Neighbourhood services cut by £8.9bn
22/07/2019 Funding for neighbourhood services across Britain has fallen 27% over the last decade, according to new research. |
Report explores how public donations could protect future of parks
18/07/2019 Charitable donations could help protect the future of the UK’s parks and green spaces, a new report has found. |
Parents urged to find time to take kids to the park
16/07/2019 Three-quarters of children would like to spend more time outdoors, according to a new survey published to coincide with Love Parks Week. |
The winners of the 2019 Street Design Awards
26/06/2019 From the restoration of a historic burial site to a successful and innovative road safety scheme, the winners of the 2019 Street Design Awards have been revealed. |
Urban Green Space Commended: Mitre Square, City of London Corporation
26/06/2019 Mitre Square in London has been commended in the urban green space category of the Street Design Awards. |
Urban Green Space Highly Commended: Grantham Green, Eastleigh Borough Council
26/06/2019 This year's highly commended of the Urban Green Space category is Eastleigh Borough Council for its Grantham Green project. |
Urban Green Space Winner: Muslim War Cemetery Peace Garden, The terra firma Consultancy and Woking Borough Council
25/06/2019 The regeneration of the Muslim War Cemetery Peace Garden in Woking has been crowned the winner of the Urban Green Space category. |
Parks in danger of being sold, campaigners warn
23/05/2019 Campaigners are calling on local government and landowners to legally protect the parks and green spaces they own. |
Play as a powerful motivator
26/04/2019 Beth Cooper explores the value of play and green places in preserving the nation’s health. |
Nearly £4m made available for 'pocket parks'
26/03/2019 Over 40 derelict urban spaces across the country are to benefit from the Government’s multi-million pound pocket park fund. |
Brokenshire announces £13m of ‘much-needed’ park funding
18/02/2019 Councils across the country are to benefit from a multi-million pound funding boost to ‘breathe new life’ into green spaces. |
Popular council services could be swallowed by £8bn funding black hole
01/02/2019 Many popular council services could disappear by 2025 due to a £8bn funding black hole, council leaders have warned today. |
Launch of the 2019 Street Design Awards
07/12/2018 The Street Design Awards, celebrating innovation and best practice in street design schemes across the UK, have been relaunched by Local Government News magazine. |
Whitehall announces £1m ‘pocket park’ fund
05/12/2018 Community groups can bid for a share of a £1m fund to help them develop ‘pocket parks’. |
Councils face calls to ban 'dangerous' weedkiller
14/08/2018 Councils are facing calls to ban the use of a controversial weedkiller after a landmark legal decision in the US. |
Charities to give parks a £1.5m ‘innovation boost’
23/07/2018 Local authorities and other organisations have received a £1.5m ‘innovation boost’ in order to help them find new ways to sustainably run parks. |
Councils could save thousands with ‘bee-friendly’ policies
18/07/2018 Local authorities can save thousands of pounds by adopting ‘bee-friendly’ grass cutting plans, campaigners say. |
Nearly 2,000 green spaces celebrated in Green Flag Awards
17/07/2018 From traditional parks to burial sites, a record number of green spaces have been awarded a Green Flag this year. |
What future for our parks?
02/07/2018 A survey has revealed 85% of councils expect to cut budgets for parks in the next five years. Mark Whitehead finds out what impact this will have on council-owned green spaces. |
Councils slash £15m from parks budgets
21/06/2018 Parks and green spaces are falling into ‘disrepair’ because of budget cuts, freedom of information requests reveal. |
Council drops plans to sell 10% of its parks
12/06/2018 Knowsley Council has agreed to drop proposals to sell 10% of the borough’s parks. |
Parks provide over £34bn of health benefits, report says
08/05/2018 Parks and green spaces across the UK provide people with over £34bn of health and wellbeing benefits, report says. |
£1m project to prove economic value of urban green spaces
25/04/2018 A new toolkit to calculate the economic value of urban greenspace is being developed with £1m funding from Innovate UK. |
London councils protecting parks ‘despite cuts’, report finds
28/02/2018 London boroughs are working hard to protect parks and green spaces ‘despite funding cuts’, research says. |
Getting into a lather over weed control
22/01/2018 Lewes District Council has been trialling the use of an eco-friendly hot foam weed killer as an alternative to traditional pesticides. Laura Sharman reports on the results. |
Council agrees to place parks in charitable trust
11/01/2018 Knowsley has agreed to establish a charitable trust to manage the borough’s green spaces after the scrutiny committee requested the decision be put on hold. |
Council puts on hold plans to sell 10% of parks
21/12/2017 A council is having second thoughts about selling-off 10% of its parks after its scrutiny committee raised concerns. |
Council agrees to sell off 10% of its parks
30/11/2017 Knowsley Council has ‘unanimously’ agreed to sell off 10% of the borough’s parks and green spaces for new development over the next 15 years. |
Newcastle first authority to set up charitable trust to run parks
22/11/2017 Newcastle has become the first major metropolitan authority in the UK to establish an independent charitable trust to run the city’s parks and allotments. |
Yorkshire national park urges developers to build in the Dales
30/10/2017 A national park in Yorkshire is encouraging developers to build new homes on their land in an attempt to tackle a housing shortage in the Dales. |
Liverpool approves plans to hand parks contract to council company
27/10/2017 Liverpool City Council has approved plans to award its parks and green spaces maintenance contract to Liverpool Street Scene Services Limited. |
Council-owned company set to take over maintenance of Liverpool’s green spaces
20/10/2017 The contract to maintain Liverpool’s green spaces is to be handed to a council-owned company which operates the refuse, recycling and street cleansing service. |
The future of grass breeding
12/10/2017 William Eichler reports from a grass seed facility in France to see how the particular needs of local authorities are being met. |
Councils support parks research despite funding pressures
19/09/2017 Council chiefs have thrown their support behind a new Government-created group looking into the future of parks despite funding pressures. |
Green Flag Awards extended by five years
23/08/2017 Britain's best parks and open spaces will continue to be rewarded for another five years after Whitehall announced an extension of the Green Flag Award scheme. |
Councils urged to make public spaces more accessible
22/08/2017 Councils should ensure bins and other street furniture does not stop people with mobility issues from using public spaces, under guidance published yesterday. |
Record number of spaces raising the Green Flag
18/07/2017 A record number of parks and green spaces have been given a Green Flag Award this year. |
Council could save £110m through transfer of parks to trust
10/07/2017 Plans to transfer the responsibility of parks and green spaces to a charitable trust in Newcastle would save the council £110m over a 125-year lease agreement. |
Green spaces health ‘asset’ to communities, charity says
10/07/2017 Parks are an asset to communities and should not be viewed as a burden by local authorities, charity says as it launches new research findings. |
Weed killer ban could add £230m to council tax bills
09/05/2017 A local authority ban on the use of chemical-based weed killers in public places could cost the tax payer nearly £230m, new figures reveal. |
Councils to be banned for charging parkruns to use parks
18/04/2017 Councils could be banned from charging parkruns to use public parks, under new proposals unveiled by the Government. |
Public parks at ‘tipping point’ due to funding cuts
13/02/2017 Public parks are facing a period of decline due to budget cuts of up to 97%, a new report has warned. |
Public parks generate ‘large surplus’ of £1.2bn
24/10/2016 Public parks and green spaces provide benefits worth over a billion pounds and are not the liability they appear in public accounts, a new study reveals. |
Councils should have legal duty to protect parks, says public
28/09/2016 Three quarters of the public believe councils should have a statutory duty to protect parks, a new survey has revealed. |
Parks should be ‘no smoking zones’ to protect children, experts say
26/09/2016 Local authorities should ban smoking in areas where children play or learn, environmental health professionals urge. |
Councils selling off parks and green spaces
07/09/2016 More than half of local authorities are set to sell off their parks or transfer the management of them, according to the Heritage Lottery Fund. |
Council considers using parks as flood defences
01/08/2016 Sheffield City Council is consulting on proposals to divert floodwater into parks and woodlands in the event of a severe storm. |
Councils run innovative park scheme to improve lives
15/07/2016 Councils are showcasing innovative parks schemes as part of a national campaign to transform people's lives through their local parks. |
MPs to examine how best to protect public parks
11/07/2016 The impact council budget cuts have had on public parks and open spaces will be considered in a new Government inquiry. |
Early mowing 'eradicating' summer flowers warns charity
21/06/2016 A wildlife charity has warned that 700 species of flowers are at risk due to councils mowing their road verges too early in the year. |
Toro
26/04/2016 With the coming months being an ideal time to stock up, Lely is offering end users a 10 percent discount on any Genuine Toro rotary blades bought from 1st to 31st May this year. |
Parents reveal concern over future of parks and green spaces
15/04/2016 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. |
Council first to impose parkrun charge
13/04/2016 A parish council near Bristol has come under fire today after announcing it would be the first in the world to charge runners to use its Little Stoke park. |
Government provides £86m guarantee to kick-start Aberdeen scheme
23/03/2016 The Government has backed major development plans in Aberdeen with an £86m guarantee. |
Britain’s parks must be funded differently if they are to ‘remain free and open’
23/02/2016 New models for maintaining and financing public parks could offer viable alternatives to local authority funding, a new report argues. |
Funding secured for 87 new pocket parks
16/02/2016 Community groups across the country will share £1.5m of funding to transform 87 neglected urban spaces into new ‘pocket parks’. |
Study reveals the economic value of green spaces
22/01/2016 Every pound spent on maintaining green spaces contributes £30 towards health and wellbeing benefits, a new study has revealed. |
Council to tackle anglers by ‘euthanizing’ the fish
21/12/2015 A council is planning to wipe out the fish stock in one of its lakes in order to discourage anglers. |
Children being let down by poor play facilities, survey argues
01/12/2015 Parents are worried their children may soon have nowhere to play and want the government to provide more funding for facilities, according to a survey. |
This issue of Public Property examines how public sector organisations can unlock the hidden value in their land, and why a new approach to construction could help boost the outcomes of the Government’s One Public Estate programme.
The December issue also considers why learnings from ancient cities could provide the key to promoting wellbeing in the modern built environment. It also contains a case study on how the London Borough of Westminster has provided high quality care for the elderly alongside a block of luxury apartments.
