The battle for Britain's parks and green spaces (and a picture of Lordship Rec)

Today, Rowan Moore has published a passionate defence of parks in The Observer. The benefits of parks for all residents are surely well known but let's quickly rehearse them again for those who may have forgotten, in Rowan's words:

Parks are good for bodily and mental health. They help in the fight against obesity. They are good for biodiversity and lower city temperatures in the summer. They are free, where other ways of entertaining your family are not – whatever savings might be made to taxpayers by cuts to parks will be spent several times by those same citizens on other distractions. As major cities become more populated and as rising property prices mean fewer people can afford houses with gardens, they are becoming more vital. They are incredibly good value: the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces estimates that the combined local authorities’ expenditure on open spaces in England, Scotland and Wales is about £1.2bn per year, or 0.15% of total public expenditure.

and they are under threat as badly as they were in the 80s when park decline meant a rise in anti-social behaviour, vandalism, theft and the retreat of families from using them. Government seems indifferent, and councils are grasping for easy options, such as letting commercial enterprises into them either temporarily, with festivals, or permanently with private adventure playgrounds (both of which are in Haringey) which exclude many, many local residents through cost alone, let alone the disruption, loss of space, noise and so on.

As in the 80s, there is a way back. Anyone who has visited Lordship Rec and is familiar with how the Friends pulled this beautiful space back from dereliction, will know that it can be done. If you haven't visited recently, you must. The meadows alone are an absolute joy.

I often see a lot of complaints about "Friends" groups on the site questioning their "right" to represent the public over parks matters, suggesting NIMBYISM or being killjoys.

However, the history of Haringey shows us that without Friends groups places like Lordship Rec, Ducketts Common and Fairland Park would not have been rescued from neglect. The People's Palace itself would have been lost to the public forever had determined 'friends' not fought every inch of the way.

The way things are going, parks and green spaces are going to need supporters more than ever. In fact, it might be that if we care about our green spaces we're all going to have to befriend our local park soon.

The end of parklife

(Do read this essay, please)