Parks, COVID-19 and the impact of austerity funding on public-service provision in a time of crisis

ABSTRACT

Since 2010 funding for local government in the UK has been drastically cut, first under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and subsequently by successive Conservative governments. The impact of this has been a drastic downscaling of funding of local health, education and environmental services. The limitations placed upon local planning authorities (LPA) by fiscal cuts has been brought to the fore in the UK (and internationally), by the novel coronavirus--COVID-19--and the subsequent 'stay-at-home' orders issues by the UK government. With restrictions of movement in place, although these are beginning to be relaxed in May 2020, among the few resources available to people are public parks and green spaces. As a result of COVID-19, parks have become both sanctuaries and contentious spaces, physically and conceptually, as the public, LPAs and central government have fought over perceived 'rights' to the landscape, and what practices should be allowed in them. All of which has been framed within an ongoing debate of austerity government and the management in a time of public-sector contraction. Here, Mell reflects on a series of factors that have influenced the funding and management of parks in the UK, the political decision making that has shifted funding away from the welfare state, and the reactions of individuals and communities to the restrictions placed upon them by the COVID-19 lockdown.