This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2023) |
Type | Charity |
---|---|
Location |
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Region served | United Kingdom |
Chief Executive | Andrew Scattergood |
Staff | 244 (2023) |
Website | www |
The Royal Parks make up land that was originally used for the recreation, mostly hunting, by the royal family. [1] They are part of the hereditary possessions of The Crown, now managed by The Royal Parks, [2] a charity which manages eight royal parks and certain other areas of parkland in London. The Royal Parks charity was created as a company limited by guarantee in March 2017 and officially launched in July 2017. Its chief executive is Andrew Scattergood.
The charity took over the main responsibilities of management from the Royal Parks Agency – a former executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport – and from the Royal Parks Foundation, which was a separate charity.
With increasing urbanisation of London, some royal hunting or tenant lands were preserved as freely accessible open space and became public parks with the introduction of the Crown Lands Act 1851. There are today eight parks formally described by this name and they cover almost 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of land in Greater London.
The parks were used as hunting grounds for the royal family, often associated with royal residences or land formerly belonging to monasteries. In the 1500s, Henry VIII enclosed lands to the north of the Palace of Whitehall for what is now St James's Park and The Green Park. He also took the land that became Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens from Westminster Abbey.
Over the years, there has been a gradual transition towards public accessibility for these areas. Hyde Park was opened to the public in 1673 by King Charles II.
Five of these parks – The Regent’s Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Green Park, and St James's Park – are situated in central London.
The parks are owned by the Crown, with responsibility for them resting with the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Royal Parks charity manages the parks on behalf of the government.
The Royal Parks charity follows a set vision, purpose and its values.
The charity runs programmes of activities and events to encourage outdoor recreation and public access to these areas. It also allows third parties to run such activities within the grounds to further these objectives, but commercial activity is tightly controlled.
The Royal Parks charity regulates non-personal filming, audio recording, and photography through licences. It issues news permits for media coverage of breaking news in the parks, with holders required to comply with specific legislation:
As well as the eight royal parks in its care, the charity also manages Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens. It manages 5,000 acres of historic parkland in London, and its responsibilities include the preservation of 170,000 trees, 21 lakes and ponds, 15 miles of riverbed, and a population of over 1,000 wild deer.
In 2010, the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, proposed the devolution of control over the Royal Parks to the Greater London Authority. [13] The government put forward proposals for this transfer later in the same year. [14] While The Royal Parks expressed support for the plan, it was not ultimately implemented. [15]
The parks were managed by the Royal Parks Agency (an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport) until the agency joined with charity the Royal Parks Foundation to form a new charity – The Royal Parks – launched in July 2017. The parks are policed by the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police (the English section of the previous force policing the parks, the Royal Parks Constabulary, has been abolished).
Some funding for The Royal Parks comes from a central government grant (20%) and its own charitable fundraising (80%). The Royal Parks charity generates the majority of its income from commercial activities such as catering and staging public events, as well as through grants and individual donations.
The day-to-day management of each park and area is managed by a Park Manager, who receives support from a team of staff and contractors. Their responsibilities include overseeing the preservation of natural landscapes and maintaining heritage sites, roads, and other structures within and around the parks.
The Royal Parks' charitable objects set out the main purpose of the charity and what it aims to achieve. They are:
The Royal Parks declared a climate emergency in 2020 with the charity. The parks are well protected to allow the natural environment to grow, and they are considered “a huge resource of natural capital that we must conserve and enhance”, causing the parks to be branded the “lungs of London”. [11] [12]
The charity launched the Help Nature Thrive programme in 2022 with the aim of enhancing sustainability and biodiversity within the capital. [16] All parks adhere to a sustainable management plan, implementing various initiatives to safeguard the survival of natural habitats. [17]
The Royal Parks charity is committed to maintaining the gardens in order to preserve the natural habitats for local wildlife. More recent plans have included a £5 million grant to transform Greenwich Park and a transformation of a former private plant nursery into a public memorial garden in The Regent’s Park. [18] [19]
In previous years, the charity has supported restoration projects for both Bushy Park and Richmond Park, addressing long-term concerns to protect the natural habitats in the face of climate change. [20] [21]
The Royal Parks charity is led by a board of trustees, which decides how the charity is run, how it spends its money and ensures what it does is for the benefit of the parks and their visitors. The trustees are led by a chairman and are appointed for their skills and experience. Alongside some ex-officio roles, others are appointed by the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Greater London Authority (GLA). They are non-executive and unpaid.
The board is chaired by Loyd Grossman. [22]
The executive management team is responsible for the daily operations of The Royal Parks charity, and under the leadership of the chief executive, Andrew Scattergood, they propose the organisation's policies and strategies to the board of trustees. Additionally, the team manages a workforce of staff and volunteers.
The Royal Parks are owned by the Monarch in right of the Crown; however, under the Crown Lands Act 1851, statutory responsibility for the management and upkeep rests with the government. From 1993 until 2017, The Royal Parks Agency managed the parks on behalf of the Secretary of State.
In 2017, The Royal Parks Charity was created to manage the parks under a contract with the government. Appointments to the charity’s Board are made by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, as well as the Mayor of London.
The parks are open to everyone, but those using the parks are expected to adhere to regulations issued under the Parks Regulations Acts 1872 – 1926. These regulations are deemed necessary for the proper management, maintenance, and protection of the estate. The Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997 (as subsequently amended) remain extant. [23]
Since 2014, Vinci Facilities has been contracted to maintain the Royal Parks, employing as cleaners/attendants mainly African migrants. Vinci had originally tendered separate bids cost for minimum wage staff and Living Wage staff – and its minimum wage bid was accepted, meaning that the approximately 50 cleaners/attendants were earning £8.21 an hour by 2019. Then, with several joining United Voices of the World union in pursuit of the London Living wage (£10.75) and going on strike in October 2019 with further strikes planned, the Royal Parks board agreed to fulfill their wage demands in December 2019, backdated to 1 November. [24]
However, during the tendering process, Vinci and Royal Parks had also determined purely statutory entitlements in respect of overtime, on-call allowance, sick pay, annual leave, pensions, redundancy pay and maternity pay – and these inequalities with Royal Parks employees persisted. The two employers had allegedly repeatedly reviewed the general terms of Vinci's staff between 2014 and 2019, and Royal Parks had never opted to improve any part of their contracts.
It was announced in April 2020 that 15 claimants would bring a racial discrimination "landmark test case" against the Royal Parks charity. Barrister Changez Khan claimed that "the difference in pay until December last year and ongoing difference in other conditions have a 'disparate impact' on black and ethnic minority workers, as they are more likely to be outsourced agency workers".
On appeal, The Royal Parks was found not guilty.[ citation needed ]
Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs, is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, at 67 hectares, and one of the largest areas of common in London. The eastern part, known as Little Wormwood Scrubs, is cut off by Scrubs Lane and the West London line railway. It has been an open public space since the Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879.
Hyde Park is a 350-acre (140 ha), historic Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace to St James's Park. Hyde Park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. Its main offices are at 100 Parliament Street, occupying part of the building known as Government Offices Great George Street.
St James's Park is a 23-hectare (57-acre) urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the site of St James's Palace. The area was initially enclosed for a deer park near the Palace of Whitehall for King Henry VIII in the 1530s. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of public parks that includes Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens.
Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at 445 hectares in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton Court Park and is a few minutes' walk from the west side of Kingston Bridge. It is surrounded by Teddington, Hampton, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick and is mainly within the post towns of Hampton and Teddington, those of East Molesey and Kingston upon Thames taking the remainder.
Streatham Common is a large open space on the southern edge of Streatham in the London Borough of Lambeth. The shallow sloping lower (western) half of the common is mostly mowed grass, and the upper (eastern) half is mostly woodland with some small areas of gorse scrub and acid grassland. The eastern half has been designated a Local Nature Reserve.
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London, established in 1932. Originally known for its Shakespearean productions, the theatre now features a wide variety of performances, including musicals, operas and plays simplified for children
Hampton Court Park, also known as Home Park, is a walled royal park managed by the Historic Royal Palaces. The park lies between the gardens of Hampton Court Palace and Kingston upon Thames and Surbiton in south west London, England, mostly within the post town of East Molesey, but with its eastern extremity within the post town of Kingston. In 2014, part of the park was designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It takes up most of the final (lowest) meander of the non-tidal reaches of the River Thames and is mainly divided between a golf course, meadows interspersed with trees used for deer, seasonal horse grazing and wildlife. A corner of the park is used annually for the Hampton Court Flower Show and the part nearest to the palace has the Long Water — an early set of hydro-engineered ponds or lakes, fed by water from the distant River Colne, as are the bodies of water in the neighbouring park, Bushy Park.
Walking is a popular recreational activity in London, despite traffic congestion. There are many streets that provide interesting walks, especially within historic central London. In addition there are attractive commons, parks, canals, and disused railway tracks that provide space for walks. This includes Wimbledon Common, Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, and the eight Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Richmond Park, etc. In recent years access to canals and rivers, including the Regent's Canal, and the River Thames has been greatly improved, and as well a number of long-distance walking routes have been created that link green spaces.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in spite of being close to the centre of London and perhaps retaining the idea of it being the docklands area, has over 100 areas of parks and open spaces within its boundaries. These range from the huge to small gardens and squares. In common with all the London boroughs, these green spaces provide "lungs" for the leisure pursuits of the inhabitants.
The London Borough of Hackney, one of the inner London boroughs, has 62 parks, gardens and open spaces within its boundaries, totalling 330 ha. These provide the "green lungs" for leisure activities. Hackney Marshes contain the largest concentration of football pitches in Europe.
The London Borough of Camden is in percentage terms the second-greenest of the Inner London boroughs. It contains most of the swathe of land Hampstead Heath and many smaller green spaces. The Central London part of the borough, south of Euston Road, is characterised by its elegant garden squares with large instances: Tavistock Square and Bedford Square. In this part runs the Regent's Canal around the top edge of Regent's Park, a little of which is in Camden, including all of associated Primrose Hill. Highgate Cemetery is in Camden but Highgate Wood is in the neighbouring borough of Haringey.
The London Borough of Islington is short of large parks and open spaces, given its status in recent decades as a desirable place of residence. In fact, Islington has the lowest ratio of open space to built-up areas of any London borough. The largest continuous open space in the borough, at 11.75 hectares, is Highbury Fields.
The New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), a former division of the Government of New South Wales between April 2011 and July 2019, was responsible for the care and protection of the environment and heritage, which includes the natural environment, Aboriginal country, culture and heritage, and built heritage in New South Wales, Australia. The OEH supported the community, business and government in protecting, strengthening and making the most of a healthy environment and economy within the state. The OEH was part of the Department of Planning and Environment cluster and managed national parks and reserves.
Camley Street Natural Park is an urban nature reserve in St Pancras in central London and within the London Borough of Camden. It is a local nature reserve.
The Royal Botanic Society was a learned society founded in 1839 by James de Carle Sowerby under a royal charter to the Duke of Norfolk and others. Its purpose was to promote "botany in all its branches, and its applications." Soon after it was established, it leased the grounds within the Inner Circle in Regent's Park, London, about 18 acres (7.3 ha), for use as an experimental garden. Sowerby remained as secretary for some 30 years, and J. B. Sowerby and W. Sowerby later also served as secretaries. The garden was open to members and their guests and also to the general public for a fee on certain days of the week. It included large palm-houses and a water-lily house. In the summer, flowershows, fetes, and other entertainments were held there.
Green space in central London consists of five of the capital's eight Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of small garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. Open space in the rest of the region is dominated by the remaining three Royal Parks and many other parks and open spaces of a range of sizes, run mainly by the local London boroughs, although other owners include the National Trust and the City of London Corporation.
Urban parks in Canada are areas that offer recreation and green spaces to residents of a municipality. An urban park is often owned or maintained by a municipal government. However, several parks and green spaces may also be maintained or owned by a conservation authority, regional government, provincial government, or the federal government. Canada's national parks system, managed by Parks Canada, includes one urban park, although the agency has plans to create additional national urban parks.
The Royal Parks Operational Command Unit, also known as the Royal Parks Police, is a unit of the Metropolitan Police which has responsibility for policing the Royal Parks found in central London. Core police teams patrol the 17 royal parks, gardens and other open spaces within the Metropolitan Police District – an area in excess of 6,000 acres (24 km2).
The Parks Regulation Act 1872 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, covering policing and regulation of seventeen royal parks, consisting of fifteen in London and two in Scotland. It now has no outstanding effects.