About

Summary

 

Bristol City is one of the eight Local Authorities chosen to be part of the national Future Parks Accelerator scheme. It aims to create a process by which these greenspace estates can be transformed into accessible, vibrant and financially sustainable parks for years to come.  We worked with our long-standing associates, Allen Scott Landscape Architects, and the Bristol Future Parks team on this visionary programme which was jointly funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

 

Our Approach

 

Over the next two years, there are three Phases of the Future Parks Accelerator programme for Bristol:

 

1. Identifying commercial and community driven ideas and learning, with a focus on solutions for 10 key sites but with the potential to create an estate wide identity
2. In depth feasibility studies of the most viable options
3. Approaches to potential partners.

 

Our role within the broader programme was to develop a future park strategy based on best practice examples. We used our local, regional, national and international experience to identify inspiring examples with relevance to Bristol and 10 selected parks across their estate.

 

Our work supported the Bristol Future Parks team in identifying what ‘future parks’ look like, particularly in a post-Covid-19 climate.

 

Outcome

 

We produced a strategic road map that outlined the process that Bristol could take for developing their parks in a way that would enable financial sustainability, combined with wider strategic objectives. These objectives were aimed at ensuring that parks remained free at the point of use and that they become community hubs that contribute to physical and mental health and wellbeing, environmental and biodiversity conservation as well as economic sustainability.