What would you like to create, amplify or destroy in the spaces around brum? #brumparks

We weren’t able to listen in detail to every conversation on each table, but these are the notes were were able to capture.  A key part of the execise was to focus some of the thinking –  so each table was ask to identify their three most important clusters of ideas and problems and give those a headline.  This appear in the green boxes.
Conversation from Table 3
What are the qualities of the spaces you would like to qualify , advance, or remove – it’s not about knocking spaces down.
“So many of our spaces are isolated outside of the city centre – but in the centre there is link – for instance you can walk from the mailbox to the symphony hall along the canal for instance but we could link other places up.
We could amplify the links between different sites – where it’s successful shout about it – and use the success to create and promote links to other areas.”
We need to advertise space better – Eastside park for instance, you only find that space if you’re driving out of the city – it could be better linked centrally”
“We also need to amplify the lovely things that are happening in parks – how are we supposed to know what is happening. There needs to be better community communications, and not just digitally. You shouldn’t have to be a friend of Canon Hill park for instance  to know what’s going on – you’ll just have the same people turning up if that’s the case.”
We need to destroy the brown sites, develop them for residence  we need houses, affordable houses and add/keep green spaces.
We don’t have park keepers anymore – just like we don’t have conductors on the buses and that’s when behaviours slip, there’s no one in these spaces to keep an eye on things. Who’s going to tell people not to drop litter? You need to be quite brave to approach people yourself.
Table’s 3 headlines, and ideas for actions from their conversations would be;
“Come and discover, Undiscovered Birmingham” , Connect and integrate, we need to promote and link up all the spaces, maybe through walks, maybe through guided tours. When we are trying to link spaces up are there specific places that can be linked? Are there areas that are naturally connected? Groups like today’s can’t decided this as we only know our parts of the city – but this is an idea in principle.
“Use it or lose it”. – We need to make space accessible and if we’re looking 25 years in the future we need to involve young people – and we need to encourage their involvement.
“Revival”  – When looking at development – building new houses shouldn’t be done in isolation – location and what’s around and available should be taken into account. Development should look to improve the environment – and encourage people to use the spaces together.
This from one of the participants on that table:

Table 4 have three headlines that matter to them
Changing (the way) we plan  – which is in part to do with how we create plans and how the planning process and departments work
Pathways to parks – the different ways people get drawn into using parks – both in terms of activities there and also the actual ease in which you can move into and through parks.
Greening the grey –  the overlap between grey spaces and green space.
There was a detailed discussion about who takes control of deciding what next.  Should this come through structures such as neighbourhood forums or could it come about through creating movements similar to “this girl can”.
 
Table 5 headline:
Policy Management & Supervision
Community Participation & Ownership
Activities & wellbeing for everyone.
One idea for action in these themes would be:
Community work groups: Community groups that volunteer for projects or maintenance. It would be managed by an employee of the council ie a park ranger or someone from the canal and river trust
The community groups would fundraise for themselves, but with the employee funded by the council.
Update:
Key headline for the remaining tables were
Table 1
Learning to take pride in green Birmingham
Community Connectivity and Health
Maintain and Develop safety and security
Table 2
My space my responsibility
Towards greener travel
Keep green spaces maintained
Table 5
Policy, Management & supervision
Community, Participation & ownership
Activities & wellbeing for everyone.
Birmingham’s parks, canals and rivers as a network to travel through:

After grouping the headlines together themes are broadly around community participation, maintenance, policy and planning.  – the themes are then voted on, to decide the order that this afternoon’s groups will discuss the headlines grouped within these themes.
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Posted on 2nd November 2016