Scots fear for future of parks and playgrounds

More than one in five Scots fear for their local park, a new survey has revealed.

Over 22 per cent of people surveyed by charity Fields in Trust said their local park or green space is or has been under threat of being lost or built on.

The results also revealed people worried that they would be less physically active if they lost their local park, while others thought losing green space would be detrimental to their children’s development.

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Nearly everyone surveyed - over 96 per cent - agreed parks and green spaces should be protected from development.

Helen Griffiths, Fields in Trust Chief Executive said: “These findings demonstrate to us that people in Scotland really value their local green spaces, with nearly three quarters telling us that they would feel unhappy if their local park was built on or closed tomorrow.

“We live in a fast-paced world and access to green space provides us all with a chance to take time-out and spend quality time being active with friends and family.

“While we already protect a huge number of spaces across the country, more can be done. People often assume that their local park will always be there but this isn’t necessarily the case.

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“The first step in getting a park protected is often for local people to actively campaign for it.

“Today we are encouraging people to take the first step by visiting our website to find out if their favourite local park is safe.”

Fields in Trust safeguards over 2500 sites; a total of 28,000 acres of land including playgrounds, playing fields, and formal and informal parkland across the UK.

The charity also runs an annual awards ceremony in December which celebrates work being done in parks and playground across the UK.

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This year, for the first time, the Fields in Trust Awards will feature a special category ‘UK’s Best Park’ that will be entirely voted for by the public.

Voting is now open and everyone is invited to nominate their favourite local green space, whether that’s a park, sports field, playground or something else entirely.

Ms Griffiths added: “As Fields in Trust celebrates its 90th year we invite all park users to vote for their favourite green space.”

To cast a vote, visit www.fieldsintrust.org.

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