Firstly a spot of housekeeping. This time next week it'll be Easter Monday, so there will be no TurfPro published. We'll be back with you Monday April 9th.
As well as the full sporting calendar which will be keeping turf professionals very busy over the Easter period, our professionally maintained parks should see an increased footfall over the public holiday (if the Beast from the East doesn't make a return appearance!).
I did hear more concerning news for our community areas last week as the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) revealed 75% of councils feel that parks and green spaces are being disproportionately affected by cuts to funding.
The statistics came as the APSE published their State of the Market Survey: Local Authority Parks and Green Space Services.
APSE's Head of Communication and Coordination, Mo Baines, appeared on Radio 4's You and Yours last Wednesday (March 21st) and stated, "Parks and green spaces are under serious threat due to local government funding cuts."
She continued, "Many councils are facing a dire, dire choice between either running their statutory services, things like social care, or continuing to fund neighbourhood services. They are faced with something of a Hobson’s choice.
"Places like Knowsley have lost £100m in funding in recent years," Mo told the programme. "That can’t be easily patched together. And that does put parks and those ‘softer’ council services in a very difficult position."
The BBC had previously reported how more than half of councils in the north-west of England are considering selling parks within the next three years. Those opposed to these proposed sales had told the BBC that giving up green space for development is "soul destroying".
Asked if she thought that the sale of parks was a problem peculiar to north-west England, Mo Baines told Radio 4, "I think that could be more of an indicator of levels of deprivation we see in terms of the way that funding for local government has been reduced - the poorest areas have been hit the hardest.
"North-west towns, in terms of overall cuts, have suffered the most in terms of austerity. So we might see some patterns of divergence emerging between the more deprived areas and the more well off areas who are able to better maintain their parks infrastructure."
Which is all terribly concerning news. For areas of the country with higher levels of poverty and deprivation, free access to professionally maintained green spaces is so incredibly important.
Responding to APSE's survey, the Sport and Recreation Alliance CEO, Emma Boggis, said, "This survey is yet another warning for local and national government to act now to safeguard the future of our parks and green spaces.
"National policy on local government funding and land use must be properly joined-up to make sure our parks and green spaces are protected.
"We know that parks are vital to improving the physical and mental wellbeing of local people and relieving pressure on our public services, notably health services. If councils are considering cutting funding to parks and green spaces - and in some cases selling off land - this is hugely worrying, not to mention a false economy. Once parks are gone, the significant benefits they bring to individuals and communities will be lost for good."
I'm sure turf professionals who work in this sector will have seen for themselves the results of these austerity measures which parks and green spaces are suffering from. And they will know as well as anyone, how vital it is that their funding must be protected.
