Lib Dems challenge government to act on vanishing open space (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Lib Dems challenge government to act on vanishing open space

June 4, 2004 3:10 PM

Statistics uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show the extent to which England is becoming an increasingly urbanised country.

Liberal Democrats in Parliament have uncovered that between 1981 and 2001 the proportion of England classified as urban has increased by 12% - reaching the shocking level of 1.2 million hectares. The problem is worst in England's cities.

The top 4 urbanised areas are:

Merseyside: 4.8% of its total area urbanised between 1981 and 2001 Greater Manchester: 3.5% of its total area urbanised London: 3.4% of its total area urbanised Tyne and Wear: 3% of its total area urbanised.

Commenting on the figures, local Liberal Democrat campaigner Bridget Fox said:

"These figures show that the claims of Tory and Labour governments to protect our green spaces have amounted to very little.

"Here in Islington, we are facing a doubling of housing targets from London's Labour Mayor - despite being the 2nd smallest borough. That's a direct threat to our greenspace that we must resist.

Bridget Fox mucks in on community gardening day in Islington

Bridget Fox: working hard to protect Islington's greenspace

"Locally we are protecting our open spaces, but we need action from government too. Labour's tax policies encourage building on greenspace - greenfield sites are cheaper to develop and, unlike conversions, new buildings are VAT free. If the government are serious about protecting our environment, they must change to a fairer system which helps protect open space."

The Facts

Islington's Liberal Democrat council has a range of initiatives to protect greenspace in the borough: focusing development on brownfield sites such as Lough Road and Ashburton Grove planning 58% additional open space at City Road Basin setting up 'Friends of… ' groups to improve existing parks redesigning Caledonian and Peter Pan Parks in partnership with local residents reclaiming land alongside the CTRL works at Gifford Street as a nature conservation area encouraging gardening through the Islington in Bloom awards making 'Greening the Grey' a central theme of the A1 Borough project planting new trees throughout the borough.