Bristol’s parks set for pay-to-use services and social prescribing to secure their future

Dozens of Bristol’s parks are set to be offered up to money-making ventures and ‘social prescribing’ to boost residents’ mental health.

It is the result of nearly two years’ work since the city council was awarded £900,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Trust in June 2019 to pilot new ways of sustaining green spaces and transforming how they’re used and managed for decades to come.

Expressions of interest from communities, voluntary groups and businesses asking what they would like to do in parks, how they can contribute and what they need from the local authority will be sought from May after being delayed last summer by the pandemic.

27 as yet unnamed parks across the city have been identified for the project following a major review of the “assets”.

Bristol City Council says it needs to take “transformational” action to secure the future of its under-funded open spaces and that access will remain free “at the point of entry”, although residents could choose to pay for new activities in them, with the income generated reinvested in their upkeep.

The authority has previously insisted this does not mean it is “selling” the city’s parks.

Councillors heard at a meeting on Monday, February 8 that examples of the ideas being floated were wedding marquees and golf courses, which visitors can already pay to play at Ashton Court.

St Andrew’s Park is a located near Gloucester Road. Photo: Martin Booth

City council head of service for natural and marine environment Jon James told the communities scrutiny commission that different criteria would be set out for different parks to ensure whatever events or commercial activities were suggested were “fit for purpose”.

He said voluntary organisations might come up with good ideas but may not have the money to do them and that the council could help signpost them to funding.

James said that while people might have to pay for some events, “we are not going to make our sites chargeable at the point of entry”.

Members heard networks of “social prescribing” – where exercise or activities like gardening and meditation in the outdoors is used to improve people’s health and wellbeing – were also being drawn up.

Future Parks programme manager Hayley Ash said: “Social prescribing is the big thing at the moment and what we are aiming to do is to befriend social prescribers so they can start to think about prescribing activities in parks.

“At the same time we are putting together a scheme where if people want to run their own business in a park, they come to us and we regulate that.

“We can then be the lynchpin in between to start to match potential funding opportunities for healthy activities to potential organisations or small businesses that are working in those parks.”

Visitors can already pay to play at Ashton Court. Photo: Martin Booth

A report to members said the expressions of interest were expected from businesses but also communities looking to raise funds for a specific activity, such as new play equipment, wanting to take a more active role in their local green space, like a food-growing project, or hoping to take on a building through a community asset transfer.

It said: “This Expression of Interest process aims to gather ideas, some of which will be easy to progress and others that will need to go through transparency processes including consultation and procurement.

“The approach we take has to be transformational and we will need to demonstrate how we can sustain this.”

The report said the project was at the midpoint review where the funders must decide if enough progress has been made to award a further £238,000 to continue it for another 12 months.

Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.

Main photo: Lowie Trevena

Read more: ‘Bristol’s open spaces have been a lifeline for many people during lockdown’