The ‘Good Parks for London’ report ranked Enfield last out of 25 participating boroughs, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Chase Green in Enfield and (inset) cabinet member Chinelo Anyanwu

Enfield Council says it “remains committed” to enhancing its green spaces after coming bottom of a London-wide ranking for local authority park maintenance services.

According to the ‘Good Parks for London 2024‘ report, a biennial assessment of the capital’s borough parks services produced by the charity Parks for London, Enfield came last out of 25 boroughs participating in this year’s assessment.

Enfield boasts one of the largest amounts of green space by area in London, with over 120 parks and other open spaces being managed by the council.

But in the latest Parks for London assessment, Lewisham ranked the highest, followed by Hackney and Lambeth, based on ten criteria including public satisfaction, quality standards and events. Enfield ranked lowest, with Barnet and Croydon the next worst.

A Parks for London spokesperson clarified that the charity’s report was a “nudge tool” and was not intended for boroughs to “simply look” at their ranking but also their “achievements” and “how improvements can be made”.

Enfield’s cabinet member for environment, culture, and public space, Chinelo Anyanwu, has defended the borough’s ranking, saying this year the council had been “unable to provide complete data” which affected its position.

The Parks for London spokesperson clarified that higher scoring councils “would generally fulfil more of the indicators” for each of the ten categories.

They said: “Enfield achieved a fair score in eight of the ten criteria, and performed exceptionally in the area of collaboration, which reflected some of the great work they are doing with the voluntary sector among other things.”

Public satisfaction was one of the low-scoring areas for Enfield.

The spokesperson added: “The report assesses borough park services and is not a reflection of the quality of the parks and green spaces within a borough, nor does it mean that lower ranked boroughs are not doing positive and innovative work in their green spaces.”

The news has raised fresh concern, however, over the council’s management of its parks.

Matt Burn, a campaigner with Better Homes Enfield, highlighted how “vital” parks were, especially for those living in flats, but said “many” of the borough’s parks were in a state of “disrepair” or had suffered “years of underinvestment”.

Matt said: “In 2021 the [council] ‘blue and green’ strategy committed the council to enhancing the quality of our parks, including a goal to increase the number of parks with Green Flag Awards by at least one per year. Unfortunately, this goal has not been met.

“Currently, only one of Enfield’s parks holds a Green Flag Award, a stark contrast to other London boroughs such as Hillingdon, which boasts 66, and Lewisham, with 23. This is a significant decline from the ten Green Flag Awards Enfield held in 2016.

“It is imperative that the council addresses this issue and invests in our parks to ensure they can provide the essential support needed for health and wellbeing.”

The council’s blue and green strategy is a long-term strategy to protect, maintain, and enhance its network of green spaces and streams.

Cllr Anyanwu said: “We were unable to provide complete data this year, which affected our overall score. While this is a valuable report, we have much to be proud of, including the council’s ten-year strategy to protect, maintain, and enhance our parks, trees, open spaces, routes, woodlands and watercourses.

“We have and will continue to implement our ten-year blue and green strategy through various actions, such as creating wilder, more natural spaces for biodiversity to thrive; providing health, fitness and well-being spaces for our residents; and supporting the delivery of diverse events sustainably in our parks.

“We remain committed to enhancing access to green spaces, making our parks cleaner and more accessible for all who come to Enfield.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.