Side streets should be converted into parks to improve the lives of 440,000 people living in “grey deserts” with no nearby green space or trees, according to the National Trust.
The charity is calling for up to 600 new “street parks” to provide these communities with places to exercise, play and socialise. The parks would cost £400 million to create but would deliver health and wellbeing benefits worth more than £100 million a year, a report commissioned by the trust said.
Researchers identified 295 deprived neighbourhoods with 440,000 residents who live more than 800 metres from a public green space of more than five acres (20,000 square metres). Liverpool has the highest number of such neighbourhoods, with 61 of what the trust described as grey deserts. Birmingham has 52, Barking and Dagenham, east London, 49 and Bradford 42.
The trust said that underused side roads in these areas should be turned into parks, which could include “edible walkways” with fruit trees and herb gardens which local people would be encouraged to tend and harvest.
Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust, said: “We are calling for national government, local councils, charities, businesses, communities and funders across our cities and towns to work together to bring nature and green spaces into everyone’s lives.
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“Everyone needs access to natural beauty for their wellbeing. Now is the time for government to be bold and ambitious for the future, investing in the upgrade, extension and connection of the vital green infrastructure of towns and cities.”
The trust also called for a wider £5.5 billion programme to upgrade the country’s parks. The research found that 9,200 parks lacked basic facilities such as a lavatory, play area or café.
More than 15 million people live in what the trust described as “left behind neighbourhoods, suffering from poor access to quality green spaces”.
Annual visits to parks and green spaces have almost doubled in the past decade, from 1.2 billion visits in 2009-10 to 2.1 billion in 2018-19.