Parks and Open Spaces

A borough wide open space strategy has been prepared for Milton Keynes.

The strategy aims to ensure that a coordinated approach is taken to protecting and developing the boroughs network of public open space.

It will set the standards that the Council will be expected to meet.

To access the article please follow this link

Water Saving Gardening

For ways of reducing your gardening water demand, please see: English Nature

Love Parks Week is an annual campaign, organised by parks charity GreenSpace. This year's event will take place between Saturday 25th July and Sunday 2nd August. Since 2006, Love Parks Week has been encouraging as many people as possible to get out and enjoy events and functions at their local parks. Our parks are a valuable resource to the local community, so remember to support your local park and make a special effort to get involved from Saturday 25th July.

If you wish to hold an event at one of these locations, please see the below information.

www.loveparks.org.uk

Trees Love Care TLC

Trees campaigner The Tree Council is urging everyone who has planted trees in the past 5 years to visit them a minimum of once a year to help prolong their life. At least one in three trees die from lack of care within their first five years. With the help of the Tree Advice Trust the Council has published TLC tips -
Tending such as checking guards and carrying out essential pruning, Loosening of ties and checking stakes, and clearing grass and weeds from around the tree's base and applying mulches

Volunteers Needed at the Blue Lagoon

Could you help with conservation work at the Blue Lagoon Local Nature Reserve? We are currently looking for volunteers for a number of projects.

For more details contact Chris Coppock, Countryside Officer on 01908 252590 or email

Do you have a gardening or horticultural event within the Borough of Milton Keynes that you would like us to advertise or mention here? If so, please contact us.

Britain in Bloom 2009

Milton Keynes is preparing to be judged for this year's Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom Awards. We are looking to build on our success in the previous 5 years in achieving “Silver Gilt” status to go the extra step to gain the prestigious “Gold” award.

Britain in Bloom encourages all to make the UK a more beautiful place to live through imaginative planting, cleanliness, sustainability and community effort.

Judges will be touring Milton Keynes in the coming weeks looking at how residents, communities and business contribute to making Milton Keynes a great place to live; whether that is a window box, front garden, workplace or public space.

Can you help brighten up your part of Milton Keynes? Judges last year were impressed by residents' efforts in New Bradwell to bring some colour to a communal area.

Annual Pruning Programme

During each year our contractors operate a specific maintainence programme. This comprises of the sides to hedges & shrubs being maintained during the summer and the heights being pruned during the late Autumn towards the late Winter.

We have an Excel spreadsheet that contains the annual encroachment programme.

Please note that the schedule must be treated as a guide only, due to variable weather conditions and the risk of machinery breakdown the dates can fluctuate during the programme. Every effort will then be applied to catch up where our contractors do fall behind schedule.

If you do not have Excel on your computer, you can download a software package to view it here

For those that do have Excel on their machines, you may click here to download the file to your PC

Maintenance Schedules for 2009

Milton Keynes Council aims to cut the majority of grass in its verges, open spaces and parks 12 times a year (approximately once every 3 weeks but adjusted for peak growth in May) according to the following schedule: NOTE This may be adjusted due to the variation in seasons such as a colder winter causing a delay in the start of grass growth or a dry summer negating the need to cut grass. Certain areas are cut less frequently due to bulbs, wildlife, meadows etc.

GENERAL SCHEDULE (NOTE: cut 1 has been omitted due to the delay in the start of grass growth following the colder winter, this may be reincorporated later particularly if grass growth continues vigorously due to a wet summer)
Please use this link to establish the dates for the scheduled cuts this summer

‘The measure of any great civilisation is in cities and a measure of a city's greatness is to be found in the quality of it's public places, it's parks and squares'

Parks and Open Spaces receive many enquiries during the course of a year. Many of these follow a similar theme.

CABE Space has launched a campaign 'It's Your Space' for Better Public Spaces which seeks to encourage a greater sense of ownership and involvement in open spaces. Why does it matter?

Under the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (amended 1991), it is an offence to take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.

Commemorate Bench Scheme

Many people decide to mark a special event, or the passing of a loved one by commissioning a commemorative bench. This can be placed in one of our many sites that are managed and maintained by Parks & Open Spaces.

If you would like an information pack, please call the Environmental Services Help line on 01908 25 25 92. You will be asked for your contact details and an officer will contact you within 48 hours.

Alternatively you can email the parks@milton-keynes.gov.uk - a downloadable information pack will be available shortly.

Our Latest Events Listing

Click here for the latest list

As part of a public service agreement, by 2008, 60% of councils are required to have at least one park or open space to a Green Flag standard.

Great News! We have been awarded the Green Flag status for Chepstow Local Park (second year running) and New Bradwell Local Park.



For further information on our two successful locations please click this link to go to the Green Flag website

For general information on the Green Flag please follow this link

Become a Friend of your local park and have a real say about what happens there. Help organise events and activities or join in with the management of the park. Friends groups meet throughout the year and take part in development work to improve their park environment with the support of MKC Landscape Services. This can take the form of practical work such as bulb
and tree planting, pond management and conservation work as well as educational walks and events. Their input provides a more coordinated approach to managing the park and greater democracy. Friends Groups bring additional benefits such as community events run by the community, greater awareness of issues and ownership in the parks and are able to access grant funding for improvements to their park. As a Friend there are opportunities for both work and play, with social events and activities and the reward of feeling you have made a real contribution to your community. If you would be interested in joining an established friends group, helping to create a new one
or learning more about the development of your local park
tel: 01908 252968 or email

The Council's Parks and Open Spaces are available for events. For the Council to consider your application to use the park or open space you would initially need to write giving the event details, location, and dates, giving at least one months notice to: The Manager, Landscape Services, Streetcare, Milton Keynes Council, Synergy Park, Chesney Wold, Bleakhall, MK6 1LY.


The organisers of the event would have to provide the following information on the forms below:

• Public liability insurance
  
• A risk assessment form
  
• Sign Terms and Conditions of use form
  

A fee may be charged depending on the nature of the event.

BBC & SWAT at Downsbarn Wood

Downs Barn Wood recently had a make over thanks to the BBC's recent Breathing Spaces programme...

A Guide to the Parks and Public Open Spaces of Milton Keynes Listed Alphabetically by Area.

Junior Rangers events take place in local parks during school holidays.
Fun and games on a wildlife theme. Come and discover your local park and what it takes to look after the plants and animals that live there. Junior Rangers receive regular editions of their own special magazine.
Suitable for 6-12 year olds. Accompanying adults welcome.
Register to become a Junior Ranger at one of the up-coming events.

The next Junior Rangers activities will be taking place in your local parks during the school Easter holidays (7th – 18th April). Dates and venues will appear in the Spring-Summer Go Wild! Leaflet.
Email your name and address to countryside@milton-keynes.gov.uk or
tel: 252023 to have a leaflet sent directly to your home.

1. To take some exercise. Hearty gardening provides an effective work-out, burning calories and sculpting muscles while providing a gratifying sense of achievement.

2. To express your creativity

Measures to deal with nuisance hedges were introduced as part of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. This legislation became operational on 1st June, 2005.

The Forestry Commission has launched a Great Britain-wide survey of the number and distribution of horse chestnut trees.

The Forestry Commission is monitoring the spread of Cheasnut Leaf Miner which causes the leaves to appear brown in summer and early autumn.
No decline in the trees health has been found so far from the infestation of this moth.”

Further information from the Forestry Commission can be obtained by clicking here

As a trial we are planting some of the Indian variety "Aesculus indica" or ‘Sidney Pearce' of the Horse Chestnut in the hope it is more tolerant of the Bleeding Canker disease, alternatively known as Phytophthora citricola and Phytophthora cactorum.

Play is an essential part of every child's life and is vital for their development . It provides the mechanism for children to explore the world around them and a medium through which skills are developed and practised.

In play, children learn by doing. Through experimenting with their growing mental and physical abilities, children learn and gain in skills and confidence. Part of this learning process is through their mistakes and on occasions these mistakes will result in injury.

Represent your region with Park it! in 2009

Do you know of a community group that would like to hold an event in their park next summer? Would they like funding, help, advice and guidance to make this possible?

Maintenance Type	Apr-03	Apr-04	Apr-06	Apr-07	Apr-08
Amenity Grass	8,786,691	8,789,138	9,109,026	9,659,840	9,666,606
Grave Grass	69,461	77,191	83,884	83,879	83,667
Sport Grass	225,561	307,283	218,016	315,926	348,618
Hedges	205,780	210,245	212,404	213,739	220,737
Shrubs	1,119,101	1,142,378	1,181,893	1,155,574	1,163,041
Woodland	638,167	673,772	806,337	799,740	809,139
Hard Surface	228,295	358,638	358,638	358,638	417,081
Total m²	11,273,056	11,558,647	11,970,197	12,587,336	12,708,889

Contact the Parks and Open Space team if you have any queries about the following:

• Leaves on pavement
  
• Overgrown footpaths
  
• Play areas
  
• Shrub Pruning
  
• Grass cutting
  
• Trees