Parks

• Parks provide over £34bn of health benefits, report says

  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

  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

  London boroughs are working hard to protect parks and green spaces ‘despite funding cuts’, research says.

  

• Getting into a lather over weed control

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  Liverpool City Council has approved plans to award its parks and green spaces maintenance contract to Liverpool Street Scene Services Limited.