England may well be a green and pleasant land, but some of its parks are under threat. Faced with budgetary cuts and increasing expenses, some local authorities are selling off green spaces to make ends meet.
Their actions are so worrying campaigners that they’ve launched an open innovation project to find out exactly what’s at risk.
Campaign group 38 Degrees is embarking on a people-powered investigation, inviting the general public to contact local council leaders to find out about plans for parks under their jurisdiction.
“Year after year park budgets are being cut, but too often the people who actually use them know little about the plans,” said Lorna Greenwood, the campaign’s manager at 38 Degrees, in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
Those plans have included cuts to the number of park rangers and deals with big companies so that people now have to pay to use some parks.
Ignorance is not bliss, and according to campaigners the public needs more information about the state of the country’s parks. There is no central record of how much money is being spent on their maintenance or how many are at risk of deals with corporate entities.
People Power
The hope is that the open innovation initiative will open the public’s eyes to what is going on, encouraging citizens to put pressure on local politicians and Members of Parliament to protect those areas at risk.
Act Now to Save Green Spaces
Members of 38 Degrees warn that many parks and green spaces could be lost forever if action is not taken now.