According to the Good Parks for London 2024 report – a biennial assessment of how London boroughs’ Parks services are performing against the 10 Good Parks criteria – Haringey came sixth among the 25 participating local authorities with a score of 47.50.
The borough’s Parks team registered top marks for Collaboration, Community Involvement, Events and Strategic Planning. They also scored well on the six other criteria – Health Fitness and Wellbeing, Public Satisfaction, Quality Standards, Skills Development, Supporting Nature and Sustainability.
Haringey features in the report too as a case study for the collaborative work the council’s Parks team did with Friends groups, partners and other local organisations and stakeholders in co-designing and co-producing the 2023-2038 Parks and Greenspaces Strategy.
Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Cllr Emily Arkell, commented:
This ranking is a fantastic achievement for our Parks and Leisure teams, Friends groups and stakeholders.
The fact Haringey’s parks and green, open spaces are consistently rated so highly among London boroughs and were acknowledged as a ‘top improver’ in the 2024 Good Parks for London Assessment is a testament to all their hard work and determination in maintaining them to best-in-class standards.
We’ve co-produced our long-term strategy with residents, stakeholders and the wider Haringey community and will continue to work closely with them as we strive to make our parks even more accessible and welcoming.
Dave Morris, the Chair of the Haringey Friends of Parks Forum, said:
Haringey’s local green spaces are vital to every community.
The 65 local green spaces Friends groups and their many volunteers throughout the borough work hard to champion and improve such spaces.
To achieve this, our network is committed to working alongside and in partnership with the council’s Parks and Leisure service and their dedicated staff, most recently around strategic policies, communications, funding bids and promoting community engagement and activities.
Lewisham (First, 55.50 points), Hackney (Second, 54.25 points) and Lambeth (Third, 52.75 points) all placed on the podium, while Barking and Dagenham (Fourth, 48.50 points) and Richmond upon Thames (Fifth, 48 points) rounded off the top five positions.
Haringey outperformed many neighbouring boroughs in the Good Parks for London 2024 report, with Waltham Forest (11th, 44 points), Islington (13th, 43.75 points), Camden (21st, 38.75 points), Barnet (23rd, 38.25 points) and Enfield (25th, 35.75 points) all finishing outside of the top 10 boroughs.
The borough’s Parks team were also one of only five to have significantly improved their score from the prior assessment.
