Parks managers urged to demand lottery funding

Parks managers are being urged to demand more lottery funding for green space through a consultation on spending over the next six years.

The Big Lottery Fund (known as BIG) is running the consultation on how funding should be spent between now and 2015.

GreenSpace is calling for more cash for parks. Chief executive Paul Bramhill said: "There is still high demand as funding programmes are significantly oversubscribed.

"It is therefore important that the lottery continues to fund public park projects."

Over the past three years around £150m has been invested through joint Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and BIG scheme Parks for People.

But from this year, the amount of cash available each year through the programme has been reduced to around £20m.

The HLF also funds historic projects in parks and public spaces, with BIG contributing to other environmental initiatives.

Bramhill said: "We'd urge those considering applying for funding in the future to be explicit in the need for further funding opportunities."

The consultation, available online at www.big-thinking.org.uk, covers questions such as whether fewer projects should be funded but over a longer term and how to engage with communities.

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