Investing long term in green space

What the Land Trust believes

We believe that long term investment of green space should be an integral and essential part of any design and development process.

As with all infrastructure, green space needs managing and maintaining to ensure it remains in good quality. Securing long term investment for green spaces from the outset means it can be well-managed and also reduces additional costs over time.

With this investment, onsite rangers can: engage with local communities and facilitate a mutually beneficial connection between the space and the community; bring the green space to life and get maximum potential from it; and undertake any necessary maintenance.

Secure, long term investment in green spaces delivers significant social and economic benefits, including:

• Strengthening local communities through building resilience, strengthening cohesion, improving people’s health and wellbeing and creating greater economic vitality.
• Supporting placemaking, a collaborative approach to planning, designing and managing public spaces to maximise wellbeing
• Maximising the potential of development sites
• Providing opportunities for local businesses, such as contractors, suppliers and independent businesses, such as personal trainers.
• Increasing the value of local housing and commercial property
• Improving the attractiveness of a local area through the integration of the natural and built environments

The benefits and value that green spaces bring far outweigh the cost of their maintenance.

What we want to achieve

We want to ensure that green spaces are supported and protected in national housing, planning and environmental policy; given the same priority as other public services at a local and national level and resourced appropriately with long term funding in place to enable this.  We want the local and national Government and all opposition parties to consider how this can be delivered through publishing guidance, best practice and if required, new legislation.

What we are doing

We are working with national and local government and other partners to champion the need for long term investment to manage green spaces and progress in green space policy.

The Land Trust uses its own funding models to demonstrate how secured investment in green spaces can add significant value to local areas and benefit local communities. This includes up front endowments, Section 106 payments and service charge arrangements. Visit here for further details.

A rainbow over the river Thames and The Land Trust’s site, Greenwich Ecology Park. Copyright Sally Thorburn

The Countess of Chester Country Park.

Re-opening of The Hippos, Longbarn

Bookhurst Wood

Manor Kingsway

Cyclists pass an ice cream van parked at Liverpool Festival Gardens