This past weekend hundreds of communities across the UK came together to celebrate the UK’s parks and green spaces as part of the Have a Field Day activities.

The Fields In Trust charity which organised the day said thousands of people joined a movement of park users championing the spaces that are so special to them. They say they were pleased with the public's response to the events, issuing a statement saying “The events were as varied as the parks that hosted them, from small picnics amongst neighbours to large community festivals with thousands in attendance."

But after the fun of the weekend there is an important week for the future of UK parks coming up.

During this week the newly confirmed Parks Minister Marcus Jones, should tackle an outstanding job of responding to last year's Parliamentary Inquiry into the Future of Public Parks. This inquiry identified UK Parks as being at a tipping point.

Fields In Trust say his predecessor Andrew Percy outlined an approach to the parks and green space sector which Marcus Jones and officials at the Department for Communities and Local Government will now have to deliver.

More requests for support from the department are likely to emerge at Thursday's conference “The Future of Public Parks: Policy, Practice and Research” at the British Academy in Westminster convened by The Parks Alliance, Historic England; idverde, Groundwork, and the University of Leeds’ Social Sciences Institute.

There is pressure on the minister to deliver for the woefully underfunded parks sector. The coalition of park professionals and researchers who have organised this week's conference have warned that parks and green spaces in towns and cities are at risk of falling deeper into neglect unless the Government seizes a leading role to safeguard their future.

They say that ministers must work with the sector to "develop a sustainable parks policy given the increasing strain park budgets are under from cash-strapped councils".

The group says that although there is scope for local authorities to run parks in partnership with charities, residents’ groups and private enterprise, in reality many parks have to rely on council funding.

Dr Anna Barker, from Leeds University’s Future Prospects of Urban Parks project, said, “MPs reported earlier in the year that parks are at a tipping point.

“There needs to be an urgent look at how parks can be put on a sustainable footing. This is not something Government can fix on its own – but there needs to be leadership from Whitehall. One way of doing that is to establish a national agency which would work with park managers and the public to ensure the parks legacy is sustained for future generations.”

Dr Barker went on to say, “Parks and green spaces are much valued community resources but they are under considerable financial pressure. Park managers have being doing more with less, but there is a limit to how far that approach can go.”

As well as money being an issue for the maintenance of parks the coalition also argues that the challenges they face also relate to the pressures of urban development, unequal access to quality green space and competing demands for their use.

For an truly in-depth look at the current state of our parks, can I recommend a superb article by Rowan Moore which appeared in The Observer yesterday - which alongside the shocking news that Bristol council has reduced its parks budget to zero, asks if we're seeing the end of parklife as we know it?

Turf Professionals who work in this sector will know more keenly than most just what pressures our parks are under. They will also have first hand, expert knowledge of just how vital well maintained public green spaces are to our society.

Hopefully their opinions and advice will not go unheard.