Nene Park

Stunning Entries Win Parks Photo Competition

Three stunning photographs have come out on top of a competition to showcase Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s brilliant parks.

Residents parks and open spaces

#LetsGetOutdoors Photo Competition – Prizes up for grabs

Prizes from the National Trust and Nene Park Trust are up for grabs in a photo competition to celebrate parks in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. 

As part of the #LetsGetOutdoors campaign which is running throughout the spring and summer, local nature enthusiasts are being encouraged to send in photos of their nearby green spaces. And the best entries will feature on the new Cambs Open Space website, with the top three photos also earning rewards from the National Trust and Nene Park Trust. 

The Cambs Open Space website – https://www.cambsopenspace.co.uk/ – has been created as part of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project. The website contains a map showcasing 200 local parks which each have their own designated page with a list of facilities and local volunteer groups. 

Similarly, there is also an ‘events’ page where people can see a list of all events happening at parks across both areas. The campaign hopes to reduce loneliness by urging people to ‘find their spark in the park’, with research showing that visiting local green and natural spaces can significantly boost wellbeing. 

The new photo competition will run from 19 May to 23 June, with the National Trust offering: 

  • A pair of tickets to Winter Lights at Anglesey Abbey
  • A boat trip for four people at Wicken Fen.

Nene Park Trust is also offering: 

  • A private trip on board its very own electric boat, Wyndham. This is an opportunity to take an otters-eye view of Nene Park, its thriving wildlife and inspiring landscape, for up to 12 people. 

Other entries will also feature on the Cambs Open Space website and up to three runners up will be offered a poster copy of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough GreenGround Map – showing the network of parks and open spaces in the county. 

To qualify for the competition, the following criteria must be met: 

  • Photos must be of parks and open spaces in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
  • Please avoid any pictures which involve faces of adults and children
  • Please provide a name and location of the park/open space photographed.

Photos should be sent to FutureParks@Cambridgeshire.gov.uk with the winning entries judged by nature experts. 

Cllr Nigel Simons, cabinet member for waste, street scene and the environment at Peterborough City Council, said: “Peterborough is home to many wonderful and award-winning parks. This competition is an opportunity for residents to go and explore these superb spots and to enjoy the many benefits which come from being in nature. 

“I can’t wait to see the photos which are sent in!” 

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project is a partnership between seven local authorities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the Local Nature Partnership. 

It is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the National Trust and the Ministry of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with the Cambs Open Space website managed by project partners Living Sport. 

 

Open Space in Huntingdonshire

Community Led Nature Based Solutions

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project, in partnership with the Natural Cambridgeshire, the Local Nature Partnership for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, to promote Community Led Nature Based Solutions. By offering small grants to local communities to undertake nature recovery on local and accessible open space. The project sought to better understand how local communities could be better supported to deliver community led local nature restoration in parks and green spaces.

The headline findings were:

  • Communities throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are resourceful, creative, enthusiastic and motivated, want to see nature thrive where they live and are beginning to make this happen.
  • Local Councils and landholders working together can do more to enable rewilding and other nature recovery projects on their land, including initial upfront support to groups and guidance to develop 5-year Local Nature Recovery Plans, and link these with neighbourhood plans and local plans.
  • Together we need to build capacity to enable more communities to acquire skills and knowledge they need to accelerate local nature recovery, and to identify sites for nature enhancement close to where they live.

At the beginning of the project  applicants were asked to demonstrate how their project would achieve one or more of the following criteria.

  • To deliver significant increases in key wildlife habitats.
  • To raise levels of local pride, aspiration and community cohesion by helping communities to understand, appreciate and enjoy their natural heritage.
  • To promote public health and wellbeing.
  • To create resilient countryside and communities, where nature is at the heart of the approach to tackling the climate emergency.
  • To champion examples of best practice for sustainable development and management of parks and public green space.

Out of 22 local communities applicants, 9 funding applicants were awarded grants between £250 – £750. These are as follows:

  • Octagon Chapel Graveyard Restoration, Wisbech– aim of project to turn an abandoned site into a wildlife haven with public access for community to enjoy and involve the community in nature restoration.
  • St John the Baptist Churchyard, Barnack– The grant enabled the purchase of plug plants and bults, and were sourced from a company that guarantees native British provenance. With assistance from the local community the bulbs were planted.
  • Peacocks Meadow, Littleport– the project aimed to include the community in the mass planting of 1000s of native species woodland plants and bulbs to recreate a woodland habitat.
  • Wheatfields Playing Field and Community Green Space, St Ives– this project aimed to create and maintain a small wildflower meadow in public open spaces in St Ives.
  • Swavesey Community Orchard, Swavesey– the grant was used to replace four of the orchards heritage fruit trees lost due to flooding and drought.
  • Fassage Green, Lode– this project focused on improving the biodiversity of Fassage Green in the village of lode.
  • Orchard Park, Cambridge– the grant awarded was used to purchase bulbs and fruit bushes for the Eastern End of Orchard Park.
  • Eastern Meadow Area, Midsummer Common, Cambridge– The aim of this project was to undertake feasibility work to see if an old drainage ditch at the Eastern end of the Common would be suitable for opening up to create a more nature rich habitat.
  • Challis Pond, Barrington– The project was to dredge the pond, reinstate and reshape the banks, regrade and seed/replant the periphery, reduce the size and height of the island and improve the filter system to reduce sediment entering the pond in future

Overall, the findings from the Community Led Nature Based Solutions project had a positive impact on both communities and the enthusiasm to develop projects to support nature-based solutions. The project proposed  next steps including, partners working together to build on existing community assets to develop and explore:

  • Policy guidelines for town and parish councils about how to write and implement a biodiversity policy, why this is important, and what their responsibilities are/or will be in regard to the new 2021 Environment Act.
  • Nature Recovery Now!  – A Community Climate Champions programme to recruit and train 25 local people in enable them to lead nature recovery projects where they live, and also training and advice, opportunities for skills development, and networking opportunities that enable knowledge sharing and information exchange for communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
  • Funding for community nature recovery grants, including seed corn monies.
  • Community-led local nature recovery plans for every ward, and town and parish council in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with clear links identified to local plans and neighbourhood plan.

Lets Get Outdoors!

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are home to hundreds of fantastic open spaces, offering activities and sanctuaries for people of all ages and backgrounds.

And to allow residents to make the most of these special places a new map has been created to enable them to search for their nearest parks, as well as what facilities they offer and which events are being held there.

The Cambs Open Space map is the centrepiece of a new #LetsGetOutdoors campaign which will encourage people to make the most of their nearby green spaces. The pandemic has made many realise the huge benefits which come from being out and about, with a survey carried out by Natural England showing that during Covid restrictions 43% of people found visiting local green and natural spaces became more important to their wellbeing.

The map, which can accessed by visiting the Cambs Open Space Website, has brought together 200 local parks into one easy to navigate site. Visitors to the page can search for parks in all parts of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, including those which are nearest to them. Each park has its own designated page with a list of facilities and local volunteer groups.

Similarly, there is also an ‘events’ page where people can see a list of all events happening at parks across both areas. These include everything from runs, nature walks and sporting activities to poetry sessions.

The campaign hopes to reduce loneliness by urging people to ‘find their spark in the park’. Running throughout the rest of spring and into the summer, the campaign will ask people to share photos of themselves enjoying their local park, as well as encourage people to get involved in local community activities outdoors.

Robert Pearce, programme director for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks, which is running the campaign, said

“We are so pleased to be launching Cambs Open Space this spring.

“Cambs Open Space came into being through the collective effort of the partnership and a shared ambition to enable people to make the most of their parks and green spaces. Our green spaces are important community places, they are great for people’s physical and mental health, and provide safe habitats for local wildlife.

“Over the past few years people have come to appreciate their parks more than ever. We hope people will use the Cambs Open Space map to continue exploring Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s fantastic outdoor spaces.”

Frequent visits to green spaces are associated with a healthier bodyweight, as well as better heart rates, blood pressure, cholesterol and stress levels.

Regular exposure to green spaces is also generally associated with improved mental health and wellbeing in both adults and children.

Visitors to parks can enjoy their natural beauty while taking a walk or run (perhaps in a group), or by making use of outdoor gym/play equipment or embracing the many sounds and sights of nature.

For people looking for inspiration to make the most of their local park, ideas include ‘Couch to 5K’ and ‘10 Minute Shake Up games’.

The #LetsGetOutdoors campaign is delivered by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks, a partnership project between seven local authorities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the Local Nature Partnership. The project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the National Trust and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The new website is managed by project partners Living Sport.

Kelly Vickers, head of business development at Living Sport, said: “Living Sport are happy to be managing the new Cambs Open Space website. It’s a super opportunity to connect different aspects of our work to support more people to be active outside through promoting spaces, events and supporting the voluntary groups that look after and use the parks across our county.”

Open Space Standards: A Toolkit

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project, in partnership with Fenland District Council, have developed a toolkit to demonstrate the steps needed and lessons learnt to setting open space standards using benchmark standards that were set in an Open Space Standards Mapping Report produced by Jon Sheaff & Associates. The toolkit, developed by LUC, sets out the recommended steps to be taken by Local Authorities when developing their local open space standards, these compromise the following standards:

  • Quantity – accessible open space available per person in the give area
  • Accessibility – distance travelled to reach accessible open space
  • Quality and value – level of facilities expected

This toolkit was developed alongside a pilot project testing and adjusting the baseline standards set out in the Open Spaces Standards Mapping Report for Fenland District Council’s Local Plan for Open Space. The work records and builds on the lessons learned during this process, developing the baseline open space standards across the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area. By setting out the 5 main steps to develop open space standards, including the key lessons learned such as:

1. Prep

Timeline for completing the work should be realistic and with good preparation, including having a clear scope and purpose, understood by all key stakeholders and partners.

 

2. Understand the local context

There is no one size fits all approach to developing open space standards, therefore having a good understanding of local context will ensure the open space standards are appropriate and reflect the value and importance of open space in the local area.

 

3. Understand supply

Similar to step one it is important to allow sufficient time to collate and sense check all the available open space data, this is in order to create a robust dataset used to set the open space standards.

 

4. Understand demand and need

By understanding demand and need provide key evidence to support the development of open space standards, this step will be required to scrutinise and test the proposed standards (see next step)

 

5. Set and test standards

This fifth and final step involves bringing all previous steps together, using the available evidence to make and inform recommendations.

Open space standards will need to be incorporated into policies to be applied as part of development, therefore an understanding of additional guidance such as local policy frameworks and planning process will assist in the development of open space standards.

This toolkit is for planners, parks and open space professionals, consultants / advisors and geographic Information Systems (GIS) professionals. It is intended that the toolkit could be used by local authorities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. However, the key steps would also apply nationally.

Follow this link to download a full copy of the Open Space Standards Toolkit.

Mapping Natural Capital across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

We hosted a three part workshop series to explore how mapping Natura Capital across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough could help us understand the benefits of our parks and green space.

Announcing our Greenground map for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Parks and green spaces have a range of benefits and should be seen as essential infrastructure, alongside roads and railways. COVID-19 demonstrated the importance of parks and green spaces and resulted in a huge increase in the number of visitors. This mainly reflected the proven physical and mental health benefits that parks provide by creating opportunities to connect to nature. However, they can also make significant contributions to tackling climate change through carbon capture and can help strengthen local communities via local Parks Friends Groups and providing places for community activity.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough GreenGround Map represents the parks and green spaces within five key urban areas, including Cities Cambridge, Peterborough and Ely and the Towns of Huntingdon and Wisbech. By drawing on the river, railway and trail themes as key lines, the map clearly shows the accessibility of parks and green spaces for everyone to enjoy. For example, the map includes the Hereward Way walking route, which passes through Peterborough and Ely to reach the Breckland Heaths on the Cambridgeshire / Suffolk County boarder. Also, the Rothschild Way walking route from Woodwalton Fen in Huntingdonshire to Wicken Fen in East Cambridgeshire, covering a distance of 39 miles.

This is the first urban and rural GreenGround Map developed by Graphic Designer Helen Ilus, who previously focused on more urban settings to develop a network of parks and green spaces and promot the many benefits that are offered.

The map presents these precious spaces as Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s very own local ‘National Park’ offering a wide range of outdoor experiences that are good for people and good for nature.

GreenGround Map

Making the most of our parks and green spaces this Winter

We are now well into the season of colder, shorter days and its tempting to pack up our things and retreat back inside, under a blanket, and wait for the sun to come out again – spring and summer was nice while it lasted right? Not so fast! Our public parks and open spaces are open all year round, so why not make the most of them during this winter.

Just remember to wrap up warm, hat, gloves, scarves and an extra pair of socks are all necessary equipment for a chilly expedition into the great outdoors – or down the road to your favourite recreational ground.

On cloudy days where it gets that little bit darker around 4 o’clock, why not also bring out a couple of pocket torches. Not only are these nice to have just in case, but they are also handy tools for exploring your natural environment when conditions are a little dimmer, there are still lots of opportunities to spot nature this time of year. Shorter days are also opportunities to catch a glimpse of some of the UK’s beautiful winter sunsets.

flood mitigation in parks Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project Officer Heather Thomas took this photo whilst out on an afternoon walk in Peterborough

Autumn is a particularly special time of year, the seasons change brings with it new opportunities to enjoy the beauty of local parks and green spaces. Autumn is one of the best times of year to get creative, all the different colours and textures of the natural environment this time of year makes it a great opportunity to get creating some wild art.

The damper whether creates the prefect conditions for spectacular mud pies and puddle jumps. Why not even get together with other puddle enthusiasts and create you own World Puddle Jumping Championship.

Let us know what fun you are having in your local parks and open spaces this winter!

parks partnership

World leaders gather at the COP26 summit

November has been a busy month for world leaders and the challenges posed by the thread of Climate Change. World Leaders gathered at the COP26 summit to accelerate action towards goals in tackling Climate Change. Taking place in Glasgow on 31st October – 12th November, the following declarations have been key outputs from this event.

Declaration on Forests and Land Use Pledge

A total of 141 countries identified the critical roles forests hold to achieve the balance of removal of greenhouse gas emission through carbon sinks. Through shared efforts, world leaders commit to:

  • Conserving forests and other terrestrial ecosystems, by accelerate restoration of such habitats.
  • Promote sustainable development, through consumption that do not drive deforestation and land degradation.
  • Empowering communities, by building resilience and enhancing rural communities.
  • Review, Implement and redesign agricultural policies.
  • Increase finance and investment from a wide range of public and private sources.
  • Align financial flows with international goals to reverse forest loss and degradation.

Declaration of reduction in Global Methane

Over 100 countries, including United States and European Union launched the incentive and expanded financial and technical support to reduce global methane emissions to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. This includes committing to reducing methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Achieving this goal would assist positive effects, identified as preventing over 200,000 premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma related emergency room visits and millions of tons of crops lost.

Global coal to clean power transition

This declaration is to phase down coal power and transition to clean energy, with 46 countries agreeing to this pledge. This includes ending finance to coal and international public support to the fossil fuel energy sector.  Developed national have agreed to support to developing countries to make the transition over to clean energy.

Declaration on accelerating transition to 100% Zero emission transport

Influence the future of automotive industry and road transport, by committing to transition to zero emission vehicles. World leaders are committed towards sales of new vehicles by zero emissions by 2040 or earlier. This includes creating zero emissions vehicles the new norm, by making them more accessible, affordable, and sustainable.

Declaration for green shipping corridors

This declaration supports the establishment of green shipping corridors. By creating zero emission routes between at least 6 green corridors by the middle of this decade, this will be achieved by scaling up activity to support more green corridor routes. Through the facilitation of partnership between ports and operators to support the decarbonisation of the shipping sector.

 

These pledges could nudge the world 9% closer to the 1.5C pathway and combatting the impacts of Climate Change. If you are interested in what the Cambridgeshire County Council will be doing to assist with the COP26 declaration, more information can be found here.

 

 

Credit: Special guest writer Gabriella Yeomans, Project Officer – Future Parks Accelerator has been following the recent COP26 summit 

Parks and Green Space Volunteers Network

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks are reaching out to volunteer groups across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough inviting you to join us on November 16th for a Volunteer Network meeting.

Over the past six months, the project has engaged with a wide variety of volunteer groups, some of the strongest feedback we received from volunteer groups was the potential benefits of creating a space where volunteer could come together to network, share knowledge and expertise.

So we are convening a Volunteer Network meeting on November 16th from 2pm – 3:30pm.

If you volunteer in a park or green space in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, we’d be delighted if you can join us – please register here: https://forms.gle/bwAFuxKpW4Gp2d1S9

Click here for more information on our engagement with volunteer groups.