Lorain Road Business District Revitalization Plan Final Presentation
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APSE - Parks One Day Seminar - Changing the climate of traditional parks management - Bill Cooper
1. Changing the Climate of
Traditional Parks Management
Bill Cooper,
Policy, Projects and Performance Manager
Parks and Countryside, Wirral Council
2. Introducing
Wirral Resilient Parks Project
Funded by CLASP - an Environment Agency and NWIEP funded
climate change support programme for North West local authorities
and public sector partners.
โข Project Scope and Stages
โข Link to Wirral Parks and Open Spaces Strategy
3. WHAT WILL CLIMATE CHANGE MEAN FOR YOUR PARK?
What will
More rainfall in Winterโฆ
โฆhigher temperatures
โฆ& hotter Summers
Mean for
๏ท Grass areas and sports pitches?
๏ท Drainage?
๏ท Play areas?
๏ท Plants and trees?
๏ท How people use and enjoy parks?
๏ท The work of Parks staff and Friends groups?
4. Building climate change resilience into operational management
Grassland, Playing Fields, Meadows and Heathland
Intensively used amenity grass
โข Drainage
โข Irrigation
โข Aeration
โข Grass sward
Semi-natural grassland, meadows
and heathland
โข Diminish surface water run-off
โข Differential mowing
5. Building climate change resilience into operational management
Planting
Shrub and tree planting
โข Carbon store
โข Shade
โข Forage food
Species selection
โข Drought and storm tolerance
โข Wide range
Establishment
โข Moisture, aeration and nutrients
โข Granular polymers
โข Mulching
6. Building Climate Change resilience into operational management
Surfacing, irrigation and drainage
โข Path network
โข Permeability and resilience
โข Drainage charges
โข Playable and useable surfaces
โข Link to Playing Pitch Strategy
โข Irrigation
โข Above ground and below ground options
7. Building Climate Change resilience into operational management
Play areas, street furniture, equipment and lighting
โข Shade
โข Use of timber
โข Low energy or solar lighting
โข Equipment to encourage โsocialโ use
e.g. outdoor gym
8. The wider climate mitigation value of parks and green spaces
โข Urban cooling in Summer
โข Microclimate moderation
โข Evapotranspiration
โข Flood risk management
โข Carbon footprint reduction:
โleisure milesโ, โfood milesโ
and moreโฆ
โข Exemplar and education projects
10. Learning points from the project
โข People are interested in climate change!
โข An opportunity to engage communities
about parks, including Friends groups
and young people
โข The importance of good parks
โon the doorstepโ
โข Ensuring the additional use of parks e.g.
in warmer weather is โsocialโ
โข Drainage, irrigation and moreโฆ
โข Low tech to high tech solutions
โข A menu of possibilities to develop as exemplar
projects
โข The โMuddy Dog Principleโ!
11. For more information
Bill Cooper, Policy Projects and Performance Manager
Wirral Council Parks and Countryside Team
williamcooper@wirral.gov.uk
Wirral Parks and Open Spaces Strategy
(Policies 4.2a-4.2c):
www.wirral.gov.uk
Wirral Resilient Parks Project/CLASP
www.claspinfo.org/news/climate-resilient-parks
Climate Change
www.greeninfrastructurenw.co.uk/climatechange
TEP
GraemeAtherton@tep.uk.com