A full or partial council tax rebate for local residents who join civil or community groups and volunteer to maintain and improve nearby green spaces and extra tax who live close to a park.

Those are a couple of the proposals in a new report by Policy Exchange on how to improve Green spaces.

The report comes at a time when local authority spending cuts with no ring-fence protecting the budget spent on maintaining green spaces combined with the increasing demand for housing and other urban development means there is a risk that the UK’s parks will deteriorate or become spaces that are the preserve of the wealthy.

Manchester was of course at the forefront of the development of green spaces in the nineteenth century.When Philips Park opened on 22nd August 1846 it was one of the world’s first municipal parks, intended for free use by the public to encourage “a mixing of the classes”. Peel Park and Queens Park would follow.

Their formation was largely due to the commitment of Mark Philips, a local MP, who lobbied considerably for the creation of parks for the working people of the city.

Their importance remains today, highlighted in the report which says that providing free outdoor space for exercise, socialising and relaxation, parks can benefit both physical and mental health.

The council tax rebate for those who volunteer could be worth as much as £1,500 a year, the average amount of council tax paid by people across the country.

Local authorities could set the discount rate themselves, basing it on hours spent volunteering or setting a minimum number of hours necessary for volunteers to qualify for the rebate.

This, says the report, would not only provide a solution to the declining number of park rangers but would encourage people of all ages, backgrounds and income groups to become actively engaged in their local communities.

They also suggest that Residents should be given the ability to vote on whether to raise a compulsory levy on properties within a set distance from a park or urban green space.

Collected by the local authority on top of council tax, the levy would be directed into funding the maintenance of green spaces. Exemptions would apply to people unable to afford the levy.

This system is already in practice in parts of London, including Wimbledon and Putney Common.

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