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EDITOR'S BLOG

THE DUMBING DOWN OF PARKS SERVICES
An ongoing story
by TurfPro Editor, Laurence Gale MSC, MBPR

One of the reasons I left council employment was I felt my voice was not being heard and I could see a downward spiral of council parks services.

I read with interest that the ex Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, led a debate on the stake of parks in Westminster on the 24th October. He apparently spoke passionately about the value and importance of the parks in his constituency.

This debate was brought to my attention by Paul Rabbits, Chair of the Parks Management Association, who posted the information on the PMA website.
Paul said, “We have to applaud Members for bringing this as a debate, as the importance of parks has been long voiced in Government, both locally and centrally. We all know what the benefits are, and Mr Corbyn has eloquently voiced his concerns.”

Paul continued, “Any debate on these issues at this level is welcome. However, there has to be an acknowledgement from all sides of the political spectrum that parks are and remain hugely underfunded. We all know the value of them, to health, leisure, recreation, but one area not covered is the value to nature and part of our attempts at reversing climate change.

“27,000 parks is a huge green estate that has significant potential in ensuring we are part of that battle to combat climate change. However, we keep coming back to the old chestnut on funding. The figures quoted by the honourable members are stark, and it is up to this and the next government to acknowledge the dire need of local government finances - and what is occurring in places like Birmingham, Croydon, Woking and will gather momentum as more and more councils issue S114 notices, and these councils include Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem controlling parties.”

Paul went on to say, “The Hon Member for Redcar cites Albert Park in Middlesbrough, a park I was personally responsible for as Head of Parks Development for Middlesbrough Council and oversaw its remarkable transformation due to a National Lottery Grant nearly 20 years ago. It funded a new parks centre and most importantly, staff to manage that park including a dedicated park manager and park ranger service, with the centre open daily. This has all gone – the whole team has gone, the team I managed to redevelop parks across the town, including Stewart Park – have all gone. They have gone because the council can no longer fund them and the lottery money ran out. Middlesbrough are doing excellent work with the resources they have and are hanging on to their Green Flags, but how long will this last.”

In conclusion Paul said, “As chair of the Parks Management Association and a local authority parks manager of over 35 years, I have seen this boom bust boom bust cycle so many times and we have to find a way of funding our parks long term for our current and future generations – sustainably. Any funding is always welcome but funding has to be realistic, meaningful and can make a difference. Unfortunately, what we have seen so far has barely scratched the surface.”

“As ever, watch this space, but the positive was at least it was debated. The less positive was the response from DLUHC but as expected at this moment in time.”

My response

As Paul states, this issue has being going on for many years. I have, in my own experiences as a parks manager, faced having to deal with budget cuts and the dumbing down of parks services. It was one of the reasons I left the council. I felt my voice was not being heard and I could see a downward spiral of council parks services.

We must be thankful that we still have a national monitoring scheme, run by the Keep Britain Tidy. The Green Flag Award 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.

Its purpose and aims are to ensure that everybody has access to quality green and other open spaces, irrespective of where they live and to ensure that these spaces are appropriately managed and meet the needs of the communities that they serve.

A record number of parks and green spaces, a total of 2,216 across the UK, have reached the high standards required to receive a coveted Green Flag Award in 2023 - the largest number since the scheme began 27 years ago.

I hope that the aforementioned debate may finally initiate some support and interest for parks services and over time that the government (of whichever colour) will see sense and start to invest in these valuable public assets.

However, in the light of several councils going bankrupt, I personally do not see anything happening any time soon. The only way I can see this changing is if the local communities demonstrate their frustration about the state of their local parks.

NEWS

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In our first WEB ONLY story the organisers of the recent SALTEX exhibition have released a statement on both the quantity and quality of this year's visitors.

BIGGA ACCEPTS GENEROUS DONATION FOR BENEVOLENT FUND
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In our next WEB ONLY story the Greenkeepers Benevolent Fund is the official charity of BIGGA, which exists to provide financial support and practical help during difficult times.

"OUR MISSION IS ZERO EMISSIONS"
Says Tony Macer of Kress

TurfPro spoke to the national sales manager of Kress at the recent SALTEX, who updated us on the company's sustainability policies, how they help employees with a work/life balance and the close relationship with their dealer network.

TurfPro owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke, spoke at the recent SALTEX to Tony Macer, national sales manager of Kress, who updated us on the company's sustainability policies, how they help employees with a work/life balance and the close relationship with their dealer network.

Tony says, "Sustainability is everything we do, every day."

Watch below or via our YouTube channel.

MORE MUST BE DONE ON PRO GARDEN MACHINERY NOISE POLLUTION
Calls made by campaign group

More to be done on garden machinery noise pollution

Group says gardening professionals could be putting themselves and their customers at risk due to excessive noise pollution created by their equipment.

According to research conducted by battery tool manufacturer EGO Power Plus as part of its Challenge 2025 initiative, gardening professionals could be putting themselves and their customers at risk due to excessive noise pollution created by their equipment.

The company say their research has found that noise pollution generated by petrol-powered outdoor equipment, notably those used in gardens, "heavily exceed the daily exposure limit of 87dB(A) set by the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE)."

The independent tests led by EGO and Earlsmere, a vibration and noise testing company, compared noise levels emitted by both petrol and battery-powered rotary mowers; hedge trimmers; grass trimmers; leaf blowers and chainsaws, and found that the petrol tools were up to three times louder than their electric counterparts. In fact, they say, of all the tools tested, four petrol-powered tools exceeded the daily noise exposure limit of 87dB(A), with two generating noise levels of more than 100dB(A). Meanwhile, two battery-powered tools operated below or within the recognised limits.

Decibels are measured logarithmically. This means that decibel intensity increases by units of 10, so each increase is 10 times the lower figure. Therefore, 20 dB is ten times the intensity of 10 dB, and 30 dB is 100 times as intense as 10 dB. As a rough guide, an increase of 3dB doubles the loudness.

Emma Gayler, ambassador for Challenge 2025 said, “Our latest research is clear evidence of the potential damage petrol-powered outdoor tools could be having on people’s health and wellbeing.

“Many gardening professionals are still working with petrol-powered tools for hours upon hours every day, and without the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) to help reduce the impact of the noise levels these tools generate or switching to a quieter battery alternative, many could be doing more damage than they realise - not only to themselves but their colleagues and customers too.”

Other reports, say EGO, have found that in some cases, noise pollution can be linked to cardiovascular troubles, cognitive impairment and can even cause mental health problems such as stress, anxiety and depression.

EGO also quoted recent findings published by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee that found that noise pollution increases the risk of stroke and heart disease while the equivalent of 130,000 healthy life years are lost from noise pollution each year in Britain. Furthermore, its report shows that more research is needed to update its understanding of exposure to noise pollution and states that the government accepts the need to regulate noise pollution but there are no specific targets to do so.

Emma continued, “Far more awareness needs to be made across the industry to help protect gardening professionals from the dangers of being exposed to high levels of noise pollution. A viable alternative exists with battery powered tools providing the same level of performance and up to 3 times quieter.

"Furthermore, HSE advises employers to consider at an early stage how new or replacement machinery could reduce noise levels in the workplace – set a target to reduce the noise levels if possible. EGO’s recent testing shows the clear disparity between petrol and battery-powered outdoor equipment, with battery-powered tools offering a much quieter and safer alternative, helping to protect gardening professionals today and in generations to come."

SUPPORTING VETERAN REHABILITATION
At St Andrews

Charity's mission is to help veterans from America, Canada and the UK work through their physical injuries and post-traumatic stress.

Huxley Golf say they were pleased to recently help equip the Caddie School for Soldiers at St Andrews.

The Huxley Golf All-Weather Green at The Caddie School of Soldiers in St Andrews

The Scottish charity is the only one of its kind. Its mission is to help veterans from America, Canada and the UK work through their physical injuries and post-traumatic stress while learning the skills needed to work as a caddie. Each cohort lives at St Andrews Home For Soldiers while training daily at the magnificent Dukes Course. Here, they discover new talents while finding healing, relaxation and confidence.

Founder and CEO, Don J. Snyder, explains, "The Caddie School program was created to help veterans earn back their belief in themselves, so that they can continue in life with the measure of dignity they are entitled to.”

Huxley Golf designed and installed a Premier All-Weather Putting Green in a relaxing garden area. With a variety of interesting slopes and four holes, this green provides practice for borrowing and straight putts, all within a 20ft (6m) by 15ft (4.5m) space. It is finished with a Premier Fringe 35 surround.

Hugh Fraser, Huxley Golf’s Scotland and North East England area manager, said “The soldiers that participate in the amazing Caddie School for Soldiers programme rightly deserve the very best facilities and we were very pleased to be asked to deliver this for them in the form of a superb new Putting Green."

Cameron Steele, estate director at the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa at St Andrews, added, “Adding a Huxley Golf Putting Green into our Caddie School garden has given it a whole new dimension. It now offers the soldiers a relaxing, restorative area but also a fun social space to use during their rehabilitation."

STIGA SUPPORTING COMMUNITY GROUP
Offer chainsaw use

STIGA are supporting a local community group

Company say local schemes in the South West are especially close to their hearts.

STIGA say their team love to offer all the help they can to good causes all over the UK, but local schemes in the South West are especially close to their hearts.

So when 'The Marldon Community Composting Group' in Devon mentioned that they needed something to help with their cutting and chopping, the company say they jumped at the chance to offer one of their CS 750 chainsaws for this worthwhile scheme.

The 'Marldon Community Composting' scheme is intent on promoting home composting and offers a place where locals can take their bulky garden waste for it to be composted into usable garden soil conditioner.

Since its launch in 2021, the group has been growing steadily and now has eight members, one of whom is very knowledgeable on environmental issues as he previously worked for Teignbridge Council as an environment and recycling officer.

After obtaining permission from a local farmer to use land for the scheme, the team are busy constructing the pens on the site and are hoping to be fully functional in March 2024.

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THE KRESS COMMERCIAL 60V BACKPACK BLOWER:
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