Plan for 400 new green spaces in Birmingham
Birmingham could see 400 new green spaces over the next 25 years under plans set to be approved by the city council’s leadership.
A City of Nature plan set to be adopted by Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet aims to create 400 new spaces on top of the 600 parks and other “green and blue” sites already open to the public.
There is still a need for 600 more hectares of green space in order for the city to meet a standard set out in the Birmingham Development Plan of two hectares of green space per 1,000 population.
The plan highlights 13 areas of the city “in most need of support to achieve access to good quality green spaces”.
The council aims to focus in the first five years on Bordesley and Highgate, Balsall Heath West, Nechells, Gravelly Hill, Pype Hayes and Castle Vale.
Following on from this, it is expected that attention will be turned to Aston, Birchfield, Lozells, Alum Rock, Newtown, Bordesley Green and Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East.
Cabinet will asked on February 8 to approve the spending of £500,000 for the first five years of the plan, funded through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – a charge set by local authorities on new developments.
Images included in a set of slides showing the Bordesley and Highgate pilot project show alterations to the ward’s parks including tree planting and the removal of fencing at Garrison Lane Park.
These will go out to consultation between February 9 and March 17 if the plan is approved at Cabinet.
The plan states: “Although Birmingham has 600 blue and green spaces, many of these were inherited from our Victorian past.
“We need to see Birmingham as a 21st century green and blue city, not a city that looks backwards to its past but one that looks forward to the future addressing climate change, nature recovery and inequity of access.
“We also need to increase the number of publicly accessible green spaces by 400 to achieve this. This will then mean Birmingham will not only be a city of a 1000 trades but also a city of a 1000 green spaces.”
The report to Cabinet adds: “Helping people to connect to nature... is an important part of the adaptation response to climate change. It is vital this work continues, especially if we are to achieve ambitious targets for Carbon Net Zero by 2030.”
