The importance of small things

 Following three storms inside a week, a pause to admire the fortitude of nature:

The moods of nature have their counterpart in ours. These past years have created stress and strain on all of us, some more deeply than others. How many times have I read or heard that access to the outdoors 'saved' many from depression, anxiety and loss? What once seemed fanciful or important to a few is now acknowledged as having much wider significance: We need green space for our health and well being.

Today news of a campaign being mounted to place this need much more centrally in our futures mapped in government plans for social advance:

UK wildlife campaigners call for legal right to access nature for all

Activists say one in three people in England cannot access green spaces, with the poorest most deprived

"Communities and NGOS would have the ability to take local authorities to court if they failed to provide healthy green space, under plans set out by more than 60 nature, planning, health and equality organisations. They argue that despite the fact there is strong evidence that accessible, nature-rich spaces boost our physical and mental wellbeing, and reduce mortality, one in three people in England cannot access nature near their home."

Those of us who understand this must make sure our local representatives and council get the message: Green space is not just a development opportunity in waiting.

Read the whole article here.

Development opportunity

Cut backs: Flowering cherries chain sawed by order of the City Council 2020

England’s poor urban areas have fewest protected green spaces, analysis finds

CPRE urges ministers to promise ‘equivalent of a national park for every neighbourhood’

(from The Guardian 2nd February 2022) Link to article in text below. 

The CPRE has very good point. Read more here.

The City Stadium (a.k.a. Battlefield, so-called since last century Newcastle City planners wanted to turn this precious green place in to parking for projected 'much needed' (sic) offices) qualifies.

From the article:

Local green spaces are small parcels of land, close to where people live, that are demonstrably special to their community, for reasons that can include their beauty, historic significance, recreational value, tranquility or richness of wildlife. ...

Crispin Truman, the Chief Executive of CPRE, said: "This is a solution to levelling up that has been hiding in plain sight; a planning super power in the hands of ordinary people,. All that people have to prove is they use and value the land fr it to be protected like it is a national park. ...

What might be helpful is a Council that doesn't ignore, finagle, deceive, scheme and pat itself on the back at the same time.