Green space management company Quadron Services has been working with its client The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to prepare consultation documents to progress the implementation of the client’s innovative new Green Spaces Strategy 2015-2021.

The vision that drives the new strategy is to provide good quality, accessible and attractive green spaces that bring major benefits for health and wellbeing to Kingston’s residents and visitors. The strategy aims to provide a framework for success by delivering ten key themes:

• Plan and manage the Green Space Service to maximise community benefit;
• Enable community and voluntary group participation in green space provision and management;
• Make people feel safe and secure;
• Improve play facilities;
• Encourage active and healthy lifestyles and promote social inclusion;
• Provide sporting opportunities for all;
• Well maintained highway verges and wayside gardens;
• Protect and enhance biodiversity and the natural environment;
• Raise the standard of horticulture on priority sites;
• Improve housing estate communal spaces grounds maintenance.

The new strategy sees Kingston Council and its partners taking a new and innovative approach to parks and open space management. Rather than a green space trying to fulfil a number of competing functions, the approach will be to target the innate strength of a space, accentuate the space’s positive aspects through appropriately targeted resources, and make it a destination of choice for a particular activity. The strength may be for a particular activity such as football, or horticultural displays, tennis, or simply a good space for personal recreation.

To assist the process, a Green Spaces Steering Group was set up, made up of residents from each of the four Kingston neighbourhoods, as well as key park and conservation partners who have all been actively involved in the decision making process around the function of specific parks and their future maintenance prescription.

The Green Spaces Strategy Delivery team, comprised of members of Kingston’s Green Spaces team and Quadron Services has been actively working with the steering group to discuss the practical implementation of the new strategy. Site audits have also been carried out in Kingston’s parks to identify their potential primary functions.

On Tuesday 8th December 2015, Quadron was pleased to present the current findings, developed with the Client and Green Spaces Steering Group, to Members and Community Partners at Kingston Town Hall’s Queen Anne Suite. Feedback was extremely positive:

Councillor Terry Paton, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames’ portfolio holder, Resident Services said: “It was very interesting to meet members of the steering group at the workshop. In these challenging times we all need to work together for Kingston’s green spaces. I’d like to thank the steering group and Quadron for the work they have completed so far, and I look forward to meeting more interested people at the next round of workshops in the New Year.”