Keep Britain Tidy backs calls for a ‘legal right’ to green spaces in Levelling Up reforms

Keep Britain Tidy today joins more than 60 nature, planning, health and equality organisations in calling for a legal right to quality green spaces to be a key component of the Government’s Levelling Up reforms.

The new ‘Nature For Everyone’ campaign follows the recent publication of the Levelling Up White Paper, by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Communities.

There is strong evidence that accessible nature-rich spaces boost our physical and mental wellbeing, and reduce mortality - yet one in three people in England cannot access quality green spaces near their home.

This is a particular issue for our poorest communities and ethnic minorities who are twice as likely to live in a neighbourhood without nature-rich spaces. At the same time, wildlife is declining across the UK, with the UK in the worst 10% of countries worldwide for nature loss.

The coalition is highlighting that the lack of accessible quality green space is a key inequality which must be addressed in levelling up living standards across the country.

New research published today shows that two-thirds of British adults (66%) say more or better natural spaces would increase their quality of life, and this is even higher among those in ‘nature-deprived’ areas - those not within a five minute walk of natural space.

Over the past two years in particular, we have seen how essential parks and green spaces are to people’s well-being.

Keep Britain Tidy is licensed by the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver the Green Flag Award® scheme in the UK and licence the scheme outside the UK.

The scheme recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

While the number of parks reaching the international Green Flag Award standard – the mark of a quality green space – has increased each year, there are far more award-winning parks in London and the South-East than in the rest of the country.

Our research shows that 70% of people in urban areas do not have access to good quality green space, rising to 75.8% in the most deprived areas.

The coalition has today launched a petition and wrote to Secretary of State Michael Gove calling for Government to make equal access to thriving natural spaces a key measure of success for Levelling Up, to set legal duties in Levelling Up legislation for developers and public bodies to provide equal access to nature-rich green and blue spaces for everyone, and to provide funding for locally-accessible nature-rich spaces including extending the Levelling Up Fund to green and blue infrastructure projects.

Keep Britain Tidy's Chief Executive Allison Ogden Newton OBE, said: “It’s clear from our research that for quality green spaces to meaningfully contribute to improvements in everyone’s health and wellbeing, they must be universally accessible and fit for purpose.

“The targeted investment announced a few days ago as part of the Levelling Up fund is very welcome as a first step in the right direction, but to truly acknowledge that parks are a vital part of our country’s green infrastructure we need to go even further.

”The coalition’s letter to the Secretary of State sets out the important steps all the organisations involved feel will pave the way to addressing and tackling this unacceptable inequality.”

Dr Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “The Government says levelling up means pride of place and equal opportunity. But for many people, this ends the moment they step out of their door. So many lives are worsened or shortened by disconnection from nature. So many could be improved by the chance to get active, get together and get in touch with nature. Unless levelling up includes a legal right to healthy local natural spaces, it will surely fail. This is the Government’s chance to show that the benefits of nature are truly everyone’s to enjoy.”