Ahead of it potentially not existing anymore, a top councillor says South Holland District Council is working on transferring some parks and play areas to other groups.
A proposed revamp of local government includes the setting up of a unitary authority serving roughly 500,000 people to cover the different duties currently being taken on by both the district council and Lincolnshire County Council in this area.
One of the district council’s remits is to look after a number of ‘open spaces’.
At a meeting of the council last week Coun Allan Beal asked what steps were being taken to secure the future of those spaces that the district council owns.
Coun Henry Bingham, SHDC’s portfolio holder for assets, said: “Public open spaces, though it has little financial value, have massive value to the community.
“As an authority I’d be remiss to not look at the fact these areas might just disappear in the ether and not be taken care of properly.
“We’ve all got experience of the parish councils looking after their play parks and open spaces better than what this authority is able to just due to the sheer size of the district.
“We’re pro-actively working our way through and talking to parish councils and some groups to find ways of moving public open spaces with nil value to them so they can be retained ad infinitum for the residents going forward.
“We’ve had quite a lot of success with Fleet, Quadring and Moulton Park, though granted that was a sale.
“It’s commendable what the group who have purchased it are doing, and it’s probably something this council wouldn’t have been able to achieve for the residents of South Holland so easily.
“I’m all for protecting them and it’s one of my key points at the moment with the assets.”
