Rethinking the future of parks and green spaces

We are developing a new vision which will shape the future of parks and open spaces across the three towns. We want you to get involved and would love to hear your views on how we should rethink our parks and open spaces in the future.

Do you know your green living room from your outdoor classroom? Perhaps you’d like to see more natural health centres, opening up our green spaces to improve health and wellbeing through nature walks and yoga and Tai Chi classes? Or even create more community food growing initiatives, encouraging healthy eating and reconnecting people with nature?

We’re looking at the way we use and design our green infrastructure in the future and this will all come together under a Green Infrastructure Strategy.

What is Green Infrastructure and why is it important?

Green infrastructure is the term used to describe a range of green spaces and natural assets both with and without public access, in urban areas and the wider countryside. These can include parks, playing fields, other areas of open space, woodland, beaches, allotments, private gardens, sustainable drainage features, green roofs and walls, street trees, and “blue infrastructure”’ such as rivers, streams, ponds and canals.

Green infrastructure is vitally important. Over the last year, the COVID-19 lockdowns have changed our relationship with green spaces. Going outside to our parks and open spaces – even when it was just for one hour a day – has been essential for so many people, highlighting their value and introducing more people to their benefits in a time of social distancing. In response to these challenges, our towns of tomorrow need to become more liveable and resilient by making them greener and healthier places.

Our green infrastructure has the potential to offer multiple benefits for people and wildlife. It also plays an important role in the Council’s plans to be carbon neutral by 2030.

In the context of the global climate emergency, biodiversity loss and health inequalities, investment in the provision of high quality, biodiverse and accessible green and blue infrastructure has never been more vital.

The Green Infrastructure Strategy

Parks and other accessible green spaces have long contributed to the wellbeing of urban communities across Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole.

Within the conurbation, there isn’t much scope to create new large urban parks and green spaces, so as a result we need to think more imaginatively about how we repurpose our existing parks and green spaces to tackle urban living challenges facing the area such as crowding, pollution and traffic.

We're developing a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to enhance the benefits provided by our green and blue spaces. We’ve got a Big Plan – to create a world class vision for BCP. We want the BCP city region to be one of the best coastal places in the world in which to live, work, invest and play.

This feeds into our Green Infrastructure Strategy and our idea to invest in our green infrastructure network – provisionally called the ‘Green Net’. It is imagined that the Green Net would provide a natural health service and life support system for urban communities to get out and access our parks and green spaces across Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, now and for generations to come.

The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole city region enjoys an outstanding natural and urban environment, which makes it a desirable place to live and work at a time when people and businesses are leaving more densely-populated cities and choosing to live life in balance. This is why the Green Infrastructure Strategy is so important in helping to find the right balance in our communities.

Have your Say

Runner and cyclists on the Stour River path at MuscliffeThe Green Infrastructure Strategy is due to be published as a draft for public consultation during summer 2021. This is an opportunity for you to help shape the draft strategy. Whatever your views and ideas are, we’d love to hear them, so please share them with us and help shape our parks and green spaces for future generations to enjoy.

To participate on our ideas board or survey below, please complete our registration form or login if you have previously registered for one of our surveys.

We are developing a new vision which will shape the future of parks and open spaces across the three towns. We want you to get involved and would love to hear your views on how we should rethink our parks and open spaces in the future.

Do you know your green living room from your outdoor classroom? Perhaps you’d like to see more natural health centres, opening up our green spaces to improve health and wellbeing through nature walks and yoga and Tai Chi classes? Or even create more community food growing initiatives, encouraging healthy eating and reconnecting people with nature?

We’re looking at the way we use and design our green infrastructure in the future and this will all come together under a Green Infrastructure Strategy.

What is Green Infrastructure and why is it important?

Green infrastructure is the term used to describe a range of green spaces and natural assets both with and without public access, in urban areas and the wider countryside. These can include parks, playing fields, other areas of open space, woodland, beaches, allotments, private gardens, sustainable drainage features, green roofs and walls, street trees, and “blue infrastructure”’ such as rivers, streams, ponds and canals.

Green infrastructure is vitally important. Over the last year, the COVID-19 lockdowns have changed our relationship with green spaces. Going outside to our parks and open spaces – even when it was just for one hour a day – has been essential for so many people, highlighting their value and introducing more people to their benefits in a time of social distancing. In response to these challenges, our towns of tomorrow need to become more liveable and resilient by making them greener and healthier places.

Our green infrastructure has the potential to offer multiple benefits for people and wildlife. It also plays an important role in the Council’s plans to be carbon neutral by 2030.

In the context of the global climate emergency, biodiversity loss and health inequalities, investment in the provision of high quality, biodiverse and accessible green and blue infrastructure has never been more vital.

The Green Infrastructure Strategy

Parks and other accessible green spaces have long contributed to the wellbeing of urban communities across Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole.

Within the conurbation, there isn’t much scope to create new large urban parks and green spaces, so as a result we need to think more imaginatively about how we repurpose our existing parks and green spaces to tackle urban living challenges facing the area such as crowding, pollution and traffic.

We're developing a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to enhance the benefits provided by our green and blue spaces. We’ve got a Big Plan – to create a world class vision for BCP. We want the BCP city region to be one of the best coastal places in the world in which to live, work, invest and play.

This feeds into our Green Infrastructure Strategy and our idea to invest in our green infrastructure network – provisionally called the ‘Green Net’. It is imagined that the Green Net would provide a natural health service and life support system for urban communities to get out and access our parks and green spaces across Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, now and for generations to come.

The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole city region enjoys an outstanding natural and urban environment, which makes it a desirable place to live and work at a time when people and businesses are leaving more densely-populated cities and choosing to live life in balance. This is why the Green Infrastructure Strategy is so important in helping to find the right balance in our communities.

Have your Say

Runner and cyclists on the Stour River path at MuscliffeThe Green Infrastructure Strategy is due to be published as a draft for public consultation during summer 2021. This is an opportunity for you to help shape the draft strategy. Whatever your views and ideas are, we’d love to hear them, so please share them with us and help shape our parks and green spaces for future generations to enjoy.

To participate on our ideas board or survey below, please complete our registration form or login if you have previously registered for one of our surveys.

Page last updated: 14 Dec 2021, 11:06 AM