Investing in parks
The Parks and Green Spaces Renewal Strategy (2022-25) outlines the financial ambition for the Parks and Green Spaces service, at the core of which is providing value for money whilst exploring greater income generation and alternative funding streams.
The two functions of the service are funded from a general fund budget which exists to ensure the council maintains these green spaces and assets. For significant improvements that can be delivered with and by the community, the parks development team need to access other internal and external funding streams, an outline of which is provided below.
Internal - Section 106 (S106) and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
Both S106 and CIL are funding mechanisms, associated with Planning and development within the borough, which council staff can bid for to fund capital projects, including in our parks and green spaces. Both funding mechanisms have specific criteria which must be met before projects are eligible, as well as corresponding governance processes for approval. Although these are internal funding mechanisms, council staff can work with community groups to develop project proposals and bids which might be feasible.
In addition to the above funding mechanisms, there may also be other internal funding/ grant schemes which become available and are relevant to parks and green spaces development. Such as Councillor Ward Budgets, or the Sustainable Croydon Fund, which is due for launch in the 2022/23 financial year. More information will be made available online in due course.
External
The council also strongly supports community groups which wish to seek external grant monies for park improvement projects. In the recent past the council has benefited from National Lottery Heritage funding, Sports England funding and grants from the Greater London Authority, to name a few.
The most success has come from when individuals from community groups have worked with council staff from an early stage to develop a robust and collaborative application and so we encourage those interested to contact the team via email at Parks@croydon.gov.uk. Early engagement with staff also increases the ability to secure other funding allocations which could serve as match-funding, thereby strengthening the application.