Not the cheeriest week for turf professional related news this week I'm afraid.

Firstly, our thoughts are with the worker from Dibden Golf Centre who was seriously injured whilst carrying out his duties last Thursday. An awful incident, and our sympathies are with the individual's family and friends.

A safe environment to carry out one's duties is the very least every worker should expect. It has been reported that an investigation is underway. Let's hope this gets to the bottom of what has gone on here to make sure something similar can't happen elsewhere.

Next is the perplexing news that the Premier League has banned elaborate patterns and designs being mown into pitches used in their competition.

This seems like an especially mean spirited and Scrooge-like exercise. The incredible designs which highly talented individuals and grounds teams have created at clubs like Leicester, Southampton, Manchester City and others in recent times have brought a smile to the faces of fans - and worldwide attention to the incredibly high-level of groundsmanship in the UK.

I might have missed it, but I can't recall any player saying they have had their gameplay inhibited because of a spectacular design on the turf? I can't remember a manager blaming a loss on the fact their team had to play on diagonal markings?

It all feels rather petty and simply taking away a bit of fun for the fans and an amazing shop window for turf professionals to showcase their skills. A real shame.

Finally, it has been widely reported, following a Freedom Of Information request by the Press Association, that government funding for England’s national parks is on track to fall by two-fifths by the end of the decade.

Sharp cuts to the annual grants for most of the protected landscapes under the coalition were followed by a pledge by the last Conservative government to protect funding for English national parks up to 2020.

But analysis of figures given to the Press Association suggests that most parks will have suffered a real-terms fall of more than 40 per cent in funding from 2010 to 2020.

The Campaign for National Parks chief executive Fiona Howie said the analysis was “deeply concerning”.

She said, “The National Parks are inspiring and breathtaking areas of our country. They provide many public benefits including being part of our shared cultural heritage, being important for wildlife and benefiting the nation’s health and well-being.

“They also play an important role in our rural economy; they are visited by millions of people each year, generating over £4 billion annually through tourism and support around 70,000 jobs.

“They need to be properly valued by the Government and supported financially."

If such culturally significant National Parks like the Lake District and the Peak District are not immune to having their funding slashed, imagine how far down the pecking order for funding your local park is?!

It's important that groups such as The Campaign For National Parks and others like them, keep highlighting the plight of our green spaces and keep holding governments to account over their actions.