Connecting with nature in London

I’m running a glyphosate free weeding programme on my street & the Council have agreed for contractors to avoid spraying this area. Many so called weeds are food for wildlife and are not trip hazards as defined by contractors keen to gain lucrative contracts costing us hundreds of thousands of pounds. We should be challenging entrenched mindsets of council officers. I’m going to help set up a creative project through art and photography to highlight the beauty and benefits of street plants.  

Parks are super important and a source of pride for this city. Unfortunately, the usual antisocial individuals have to ruin it for everyone. The parks are always full of rubbish and used by drug addicts to do drugs. In the park near my house, there's always a large gathering of drug users. The question: what have I done to help? I reported it. What's preventing me from taking further action? My own safety. Anyway, the report didn't change a thing. They're always there, and I’ve never seen the police around

It’s  beneficial for the physical and mental health of Londoners, to go for morning walks where they can. We are lucky to have some big open parks such as brockwell park and burgess park. I was so fortunate to spend my early childhood living near the pond section of burgess park. I am personally committed to getting people to consider making use of outdoor park gym equipment in the spring and summer 

I started with a colleague an initiative called Do Something Green - an opportunity to bring prople together (connection) to enjoy and take care of nature. So litter picks, but also helping to set up Friends Groups. I've been involved in getting planters etc installed, but sometimes the bureaucracy is mega off-putting.  I

'm also involved in some campaigning groups which want to see an improved public realm generally, one which isn't given over to motor vehicles and car domination and which could be greened up instead e.g consider a kerbside strategy which greens a space including build out for trees where planting on walkways isn't possible or limits accessibility for pedestrians and those who wheel.  Also SUDS. 

We need greater political will to prevent paving over of front gardens including for off street EV charging (which also creates problems for pedestrians), since crossovers remove/limit opportunities for kerbside tree planting as well as issues of removing ecology from gardens. Issue of artificial grass also needs to be addressed. 

Tendency to install cafes and opportunities for drinking and eating is having an impact on litter and wildlife, something which was very much in evidence as we emerged out of lock-down. 

As a committee member of Friends

Of Brockwell Park the use of green spaces in London are a priority for all its residents However the growing tendency to fencing off large areas for corporate events that are seen as income generating sources for local councils is creating a situation where green spaces are a cash cow rather than a essential human right. Also it is a fundamental misuse of many of the reasons the parks were given to the citizens of London.  

I live in Teddington and adore going into Bushy Park (I'm a wheelchair user and need a Support Worker to drive me to the Park). I also meet dog owners in the Park (as I belong to Borrow my doggy and organisation that links up dog owners with people like me who love dogs but don't own them) I also wheel through the Woodland Gardens once a month with my neuro physio and his company and thoroughly enjoy the camaraderie of wheeling with people who have also had life changing occurrences to their lives. I think getting into Green spaces is EXCELLENT for the soul and makes me realise how wonderful it is to have a green space nearby for a wheel and socialising with friends 

While I'm all for raising awareness of the importance of green and natural spaces in our city, this does feel like a volunteer recruitment drive rather than a solution. Just as foodbanks are not a solution to hunger and poverty but a symptom of a broken social system, the reliance on volunteers and campaigners who have to fight to keep green spaces from development, and to make them safely accessible, with little funding, is a symptom of a lack of overall plan for nature in the city.

For example, what's the point of managing small waterways if unfettered development makes the ground increasingly less permeable, causing local flooding? Are we creating green and blue spaces, or natural sewers?

There are hundreds of local friends groups and charities all over London looking after plots and waterways for the benefit of their community, but they spend most of their time fighting developers, struggling with planning and funding applications just to keep spaces open.

If we truly valued green space as a city, then it needs to be a much higher priority for all funding and planning decisions, and there needs to be much more coordination between boroughs.

 

Green areas and canals are often dirty with rubbish and plastics. We need regular initiatives from government or waste management companies to keep those clean. If a park is clean is safer and people in the neighbourhood feel proud of that Green space and may protect it  and take care of it even more. 
Calling for volunteers to engage can inspire people to get involved in the community creating a sense of belonging and ownership. 

Please can you think about making a green network to join up wild and natural spaces to support nature e.g. car free small mammal corridor between Hampstead heath and Hackney marshes would support hedgehogs and other small mammals which in turn support Kestrels etc.

Please also consider a major de-culverting project to bring back burried rivers, e.g. the Hackney brooke

Please work with canal boat owners to stop burning wood and coal. The smoke is polluting the air and damaging the health of users of these previously clean air corridors. I enjoy having boats on the canal but they need to be supported to change to alternative heating systems e.g. gas?

While London is blessed with many parks and green spaces that include cemeteries listed for their biodiversity such as South London's 'Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries' in the borough of Lewisham there is not a coordinated, shared or overarching plan for London's biodiverse care of its green spaces that should hold all London boroughs to managing their 'green plots' toward conservation of the life-cycles of wild fauna and flora species. Ad hoc management by boroughs with thoughtless out-of-season strimming, mowing, cutting and digging too often has absolutely no regard to 'creatures great and small' along with wild plants, having a chance to thrive according to their seasonal timeclocks.  

I live by City Hall and the water is always full of plastic and other rubbish. The wildlife who live there, live amongst it and the beach area is constantly dirty. So if thats where your office is what chance has the rest of London got??? 

The different councils need to get more people involved in voluntary projects - get local businesses & community leaders to champion clean ups, replanting, assist park management etc. 

Think more outside the normal processes - local ‘working bee’ groups looking after their area. Local businesses can provide assistance -tea/coffee , facilities , etc 

I regularly walk on Hampstead Heath and Golders Hill Park and in Epping Forest and I also visit Richmond and Wimbledon Park. All these places are home to old and precious trees that i watch constantly - they are so important for their beauty and for their role as hosts for wildlife.  We have more old trees in the UK than most other European countries i believe.

We must protect all of these from any kind of encroachment or degradation for development purposes. Some of our parks host kestrels and buzzards, which is really important.

I have a garden which i care for a lot. Most gardens around us are neglected completely. Some have plastic grass and concrete on them. These spaces are vital for wildlife and also for addressing climate change. i feed the birds every day and feel sad that people who would love to care for a garden have no access, while many who have gardens, don't care for them at all. 

Hampstead Heath is now overrun by dogs and one dog owner told me that i could go anywhere i liked but Hampstead Heath is for dogs!  This is not acceptable. Also people dump a lot of rubbish from picnics and drinking parties and the human pressure on Hampstead Heath is increasing noticeably. This means we need MORE spaces where people can walk and just be, not less!

I would like to know how I can actively take action to protect London's natural spaces. Too many building projects go ahead with no thought to green spaces. 

We need more small builds and gardens and no building project should be built without a green area around it, nor should it be allowed to remove light from any existing homes. 

Our climate is threatened by our obsession with skyscrapers. 

To encourage people to use green space it is useful to have joined up spaces or at least a circular route through green or blue spaces that will encourage people to use them.  A lot can be achieved by local community groups formal and informal but they sometimes need support to get started. Our local residents association makes good links with the local council and this helps with coordinating action whether its litter picking, weeding or planting.  Well done to the Mayor for consulting on this, I hope that constructive feedback outnumbers the comments that are mainly insults and criticism.

I lived in a flat in the early '60s and experienced the 'smog'; the 'Clean Air Act' meant I had to replace my coal fire with a gas fire (there was some assistance available). I am surprised that we are going over that issue again. Air pollution is still pollution whether by coal fires or wood fires.

Disgusted that the Mayor didnt stop the development by AELTC of Wimbledon Park. Thats one campaign I have been involved in. It should not be allowed to go ahead. The land has protective covenants on it and AELTC promised never to develop it. Why didnt you hold them to account?

52% - much of this is made up of private gardens.  if you subtract them, the Thames and the outer London boroughs the percentage is probably very different.

I am not sure that the question should be 'What are you currently doing to help protect London’s natural spaces?'.  

First, by 'natural' do we mean 'any open space not privately owned', i.e. public?  

If so, then surely protection should be legislative rather than relying on action by individuals.

Second. in the context of the question what is meant by 'protect'? Is planting trees and monitoring really protecting?

What seems really to be being asked is -  What are you doing to help maintain and improve these open spaces?  Then the retort from MoL shou[d be  'This is what we can do to help you.' 

With stress on LA  budgets many Park and garden services have been reduced to a minimum and there is little if any proactive management of parks and open spaces.  

Anybody notice the explosion of ivy (Hedera helix) taking over trees? While ivy does not directly harm trees, as an evergreen its foliage prevents new leaf growth and the added weight and wind resistance may lead eventually to tree loss.  In the past, park wardens (yes, I go back that far) would have reduced excessive ivy growth.

If open space maintance is what is required perhaps we need a formal local volunteer park/open space team, uniform (task and setup wise) across each borough. 

So the real question perhaps MoL should be asking is - We want to set this up, will you join us?

 Just a thought.