We asked, you said, we did

We asked

We asked people who live and work in the borough what they thought about the parks and open spaces across Barnet, how you use them and any barriers to use, how they could be improved and for any priority actions.

You said

We received 772 responses to the Residents Survey and 142 responses to the Children and Young Persons Survey. We also spoke to 70 parents, children and young people at drop-in sessions at Children’s Centres.

You told us that:

• you value parks and open spaces for the range of activities that they support: for providing fresh air and as a place to relax, for walking and jogging, as places to connect with nature and as social spaces
• parks and open spaces are also valued for environmental benefits that they provide, cleaning the air, providing shade and cooling, and flood alleviation and that actions to address climate change are important
• over 9 out of 10 residents, including children and young people agree that parks and open spaces help improve mental and physical wellbeing
• six out of 10 residents are satisfied or very satisfied with the condition of parks and open spaces across Barnet
• events and activities in parks and open spaces are valued by residents and children and young people and seen as a good way of bringing people together and celebrating arts and culture
• two thirds of Barnet’s residents, including children and young people would like to see future investment in more activities that help to promote healthy and active lifestyles
• it was important that we looked at how we could improve standards of maintenance, providing a wider range of facilities and encouraging more responsible dog ownership. Children and young people particularly wanted to see a better range of facilities including skate and wheeled sports provision, balls courts, more social spaces and improved lighting
• we could improve the information about parks and open spaces and promotion of events and ways to get involved
• we could increase the range of ways that people can volunteer and help improve parks and open spaces.

We did

Your feedback has given us detailed quantitative and qualitative data about parks and open spaces across Barnet that will help in developing and prioritising actions that will be set out in a draft Parks and Open Spaces Strategy. We are currently working on this and there will be formal consultation on the draft Strategy in spring / summer 2025..