Bristol

(project closed in June 2021)

Below is some information about the Bristol Project before its close in June 2021.

Bristol is one of the UK’s greenest and leafiest cities. It has a remarkable 1,652 parks and green spaces measuring 2,217 hectares, which is equivalent to 4,140 football pitches. The city’s green spaces attract over 17 million visits every year.

About the project

Bristol’s parks and green spaces play a vital role in tackling poor health and mental wellbeing, particularly since Covid-19. A recent survey by the Natural History Consortium showed that 67 per cent of people in Bristol are using their park more since the start of the pandemic. Parks will also play an increasingly important part in dealing with climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as air and water pollution.

It’s the city’s ambition to provide a high-quality parks service that meets all these needs. Recent Government austerity and a reduced budget for parks and
green spaces means thinking differently about how to pay for and manage them.

The Bristol Future Parks project will change the way they run and fund our parks. They will not be selling off Bristol’s parks, but will instead work with Bristol’s
residents, communities, and businesses, as well as national and international organisations, to rethink how to fund and maintain parks sustainably, so they are here for future generations.

The project aims to

• Tackle the climate and ecological emergency.

• Improve and support health and wellbeing for communities.

• Build voluntary sector and community enterprise
  opportunities.

• Increase and develop community activities.

• Find business investment partners.

• Develop new ways of generating income from our
  parks.