Pulse.Assent

Visits to city parks and green spaces in England were up by 25 per cent in 2016 as compared to 2010, new research published today (Friday, 6 July) by Natural England has revealed.

Natural England’s Urban Greenspaces report also found that more people are visiting the natural environment within towns and cities across England than ever before with an estimated 879 million visits to parks in towns and cities in 2015/16.

The report brings together findings from Natural England’s annual ‘Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment’ (MENE) public survey and explores how people living in urban areas engage with the natural environment and visit urban greenspaces.

The government’s 25 Year Environment Plan aims to connect more people with the environment by creating more green infrastructure in towns and cities, helping people improve their health and wellbeing by using green spaces and encouraging children to be close to nature, with particular focus on disadvantaged areas.

Data from March 2009 to February 2016 was analysed, and showed:

• Urban Greenspaces are increasingly utilised with an estimated 1.46 billion visits in 2015/16 compared with 1.16 billion visits in 2009/10
• 93 per cent of the urban population claimed to have taken visits to the natural environment for recreation in the last 12 months
• There has been a decrease in the use of cars and vans to reach urban greenspaces between 2010 and 2016 with around seven in ten visits taken on foot in 2015/16
• Public parks, recreation grounds and other greenspaces were the most common places visited within towns and cities (47 per cent, 9 per cent and 14 per cent of all visits respectively), but people also reported visiting urban woodlands (5 per cent), rivers and canals (7 per cent)
• For some urban residents visits to the natural environment may be the only opportunity to exercise

Principle Specialist for People and the Environment at Natural England, Rose O’Neill, said:

The MENE survey gives us a valuable insight into how people enjoy the great outdoors.

We know that lots of us love a visit to our local park or favourite green spot and it is great to see this is on the rise. Research has shown a clear and important link between urban greenspaces and mental health which underlines the important role the natural environment can have in all of our lives.

The MENE survey is funded by Natural England, with support from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

It was first commissioned in 2009 and has provided a wealth of evidence relating to outdoor recreation, behaviour and attitudes. With 81 per cent of England’s population reported as living in urban areas in 2015/16, this data provides a valuable insight into how people use and relate to the natural environment.

Natural England uses the research to understand how people use, enjoy and are motivated to protect the natural environment and to help monitor changes in use of the natural environment over time.

Across all seven years of the MENE survey, four in 10 urban residents (40 per cent) had taken at least one visit to the natural environment in the seven days prior to being interviewed

It also found that some people are more likely to visit urban greenspaces, than other natural places further afield, including:

• Those aged 16-34
• Those in the black and minority ethnic population
• Those who don’t have access to a car
• People with children

The Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) have found Koi herpesvirus (KHV) disease in fish at the following sites in England and Wales.

KHV is a serious viral disease of fish and is a listed disease in the United Kingdom. It affects all varieties of common and ornamental carp species (Cyprinus carpio) and can result in large scale mortalities.
Fish with KHV disease may show the following signs, especially when water temperatures are between 16 to 28 °C:

• necrotic (white or brown) patches on the gills
• rough patches on the skin and sloughing mucous
• sunken eyes

You must contact the FHI if you suspect an outbreak of KHV. This includes fish with the above signs, or deaths of carp or carp hybrids.

There is no risk to public health.

New outbreaks

When laboratory testing confirms KHV disease at a site, the FHI place statutory controls to limit the spread of the disease. These controls restrict movement of aquatic animals and ensure equipment is disinfected.

Disease controls have been applied at:

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  Church Lane Lake, Essex – 6 July
  (PDF, 416KB, 3 pages)
  
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  Newstead and Annesley Country Park, Nottingham – 6 July
  (PDF, 422KB, 3 pages)
  
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  Parkers Fishery Pools, West Midland – 6 July
  (PDF, 392KB, 3 pages)
  

Controls lifted

Sites with KHV disease must undergo a formal monitoring programme for the duration of the calendar year immediately following the outbreak. The FHI visit these sites to look for evidence of disease and to inspect compliance with the conditions of the statutory controls in place. The controls are removed if the disease doesn’t reoccur during this period.

Some sites choose to cull and disinfect their stocks, rather than undergo monitoring.

Further information

You can:

• view all KHV disease outbreaks, their locations, and controls
• find out more about KHV disease
• take steps to prevent the introduction and spread of KHV disease

Background

Koi herpesvirus disease (KHV) is a listed disease under The Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009. KHV outbreaks have been subject to statutory controls in the UK since 2007. The UK maintains a surveillance programme for this disease.

When the FHI confirm an outbreak, they take steps to control and, wherever possible, remove the disease. This may involve movement controls on susceptible species in the affected area, enhanced biosecurity, culling of fish, and cleaning and disinfecting of the premises.

Once statutory controls are in place the site operators must write to the FHI to get permission to move live fish into, out of, or within the designated area, and to make material changes to the site or site activities. This also applies to fish eggs and gametes.

Local Enterprise Partnerships in the North of England will form an influential new body to support the government’s ambitions for the Northern Powerhouse across the region, Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP announced today (6 July 2018).

The Chairs of each of the 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will sit on a newly formed, government-funded board called the ‘NP11’.

The board will act as one voice representing each of their regions as a modern day ‘Council for the North’ to work with and advise the government on issues such as how to increase productivity, overcome regional disparities in economic growth and tackle the historic north-south divide.

While speaking at the first ever Northern Powerhouse Business Summit in Newcastle Gateshead, Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP said:

As we approach leaving the European Union we need to ensure that every area of the UK continues to economically flourish.

The Northern Powerhouse will be a vital support to the UK in achieving this and so I am very pleased the 11 LEP Chairs have agreed to form the new NP11 board.

For the first time since 1472, we will bring together the business voices of the Northern Powerhouse in our Council for the North. They have one task: to enrich all the peoples of the North of England – this is the foundation stone of the Northern Powerhouse and, with the skills and expertise of the NP11, we will shift the North’s economy into overdrive.

Together we will deliver a North of England which is an economic powerhouse and one which can proudly take its place on the world stage both now and as we leave the EU.

The 3 day summit brought together leading figures from across government and industry including Business Secretary Greg Clark and the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney. Both indicated their support for the ambitions of the Northern Powerhouse as they talked about securing a Brexit that supports northern businesses and how innovative small firms in areas like the north east could provide the key to a growing and fairer global economy.

Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and of the newly formed NP11 Board, said:

As someone born in the North East, who spent their career in Yorkshire and who has been passionate about the North’s potential as a driving force for national productivity and competitiveness for decades, I am delighted to have been asked to chair this new body.

By bringing together the private and public sectors, local enterprise partnerships are in a unique position to unite northern business and civic leaders behind a common goal of building a true northern economic powerhouse that brings prosperity to everyone who lives and works in the North, while also competing for the country globally.

Our country’s success is built on northern industry, innovation, and determination. As LEP Chairs we have taken important steps in recent years to transform our own regional economies, and now I look forward to working collaboratively with the NP11 Vice-Chair, Christine Gaskell, and the other 9 northern LEP Chairs to achieve extraordinary, sustained growth that we can all share in.

Christine Gaskell, Chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, who takes the role of Vice-chair of the NP11, said:

To translate the Northern Powerhouse concept into increasing impact requires new types of conversations across the region and at the heart of this collaboration are common goals which transcend local interests. The NP11 will serve as a strong coherent regional voice with national government about the exciting potential of an innovation-led economy for the North.

The 3 day summit is part of the Great Exhibition of the North and is the first event of its kind ever to be held by government. The summit was held on the site of where 19th century engineer Robert Stephenson designed the world’s first locomotive – the Rocket – during the Industrial Revolution.

Further information

The new board, the NP11 will report on their progress to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on a quarterly basis.

There are 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) across the country with 11 of these being in the North of England. Please note the Northamptonshire LEP and South East Midlands LEP merged in 2016.

In the coalition agreement, the government committed to establishing Local Enterprise Partnerships to replace the Regional Development Agencies. In June 2010 we invited businesses and councils to come together to form LEPs. The local growth white paper, published in October 2010, set out the roles the local enterprise partnerships can play depending on their local priorities.

The government’s ambitious, modern Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. It sets out how we are building a Britain fit for the future – how we will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs in every part of the UK with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.