The Countryside Agency is supporting a six-year programme "Towards a Country Parks Renaissance"
Recreation

Breadcrumbs

Country Parks Renaissance

There are over 270 country parks in England most of which are owned and managed by local authorities. Natural England is working with partners to encourage a "renaissance" of country parks to ensure they are all in good shape for the future.


Country Parks are a lasting and popular legacy of the provisions of the Countryside Act 1968.  By 1995 over 220 parks had been established attracting an estimated 30 million visitor per year.  However by 1999, it was found that although many good country parks were continuing to improve, a significant number of poor parks were in decline and action was needed to ensure that they had a better future.  In the Rural White Paper (2000), the Countryside Agency was tasked with 'issuing guidance on best practice to revitalise the country parks around towns and cities'.  

In response, the Agency commissioned a study to: 

  • consider how country parks have developed in the years since their inception; 
  • gain an accurate understanding of the size and distribution of country parks; 
  • examine the major issues facing service providers; 
  • examine the contemporary relevance of country parks and how they might relate to current and planned initiatives.             

You can view or download the full report "Towards a Country Parks Renaissance", which is split into four PDF files, in the right hand box.  Here you will also find an article on the "History of Country Parks" and a leaflet to give you further information.

Much has been achieved in delivering the recommendations within the report.  Country parks now lead the green space family in their success in gaining the Green Flag Award, the nationally recognised standard of excellence in parks.  Country parks receive over 70 million visitors a year and provide a wide range of opportunities for recreation, health, education and improvements to the quality of life particularly for local communities.  They continue to be both relevant and appeal to a wide diversity of people.

A key part of the renaissance work has been the establishment of the Country Parks Network aimed at supporting those working to manage and improve country parks. You can visit the country parks website to learn more about the Network, where your nearest country park is and gain best practice guidance.  For more information about the Green Flag Award scheme, click here.