Newcastle Council to take back parks as funding to charity Urban Green cut off

Newcastle City Council will retake control over more than 30 parks, after agreeing to stop funding a charity set up to run them just five years ago.

City leaders formally moved on Monday night to cut off support for Urban Green Newcastle (UGN). The decision of the city council’s Labour cabinet will bring an early end to what was described as a “visionary” plan for 33 Tyneside parks and more than 60 allotments, which were put into the hands of the charitable trust in 2019 on a 125-year lease.

It was thought that UGN would be able to generate more income that could be reinvested in Newcastle’s green spaces and ultimately save the cash-strapped local authority more than £110 million. But the charity is now expected to be wound up and its staff transferred to the council by the end of January, following months of uncertainty and concerns about the trust’s own finances.

A council-commissioned review of UGN recently found “no evidence” that it could continue operating without “substantial financial support from the council for the foreseeable future”, having originally been expected to become self-sustaining within a decade. Council leader Karen Kilgour said at Monday’s civic centre meeting that the justification behind UGN’s creation had to be revisited in light of events including the Covid pandemic to ensure that the parks service produces “best value for our residents”.

Inflation rates, worse than expected repairs bills, and council-imposed limits on staging large music festivals have also been cited as key factors in Urban Green’s downfall. Alex Hay, the council’s deputy leader, said the U-turn did not mean that the original decision to establish UGN was a mistake – insisting it was “the right choice at that time”.

He said that the local authority was committed to protecting the parks’ future but that, with £24 million budget cuts looming, residents should temper expectations. Coun Hay added: “Given our challenging financial position, it is important that we point out that we do not have the resources to fix all of the issues our residents are concerned about overnight. But the proposed change will give us greater control over how the city’s parks and allotments are developed in the future.”

UGN has needed an extra £1 million of help this year from the council, on top of an original £7.7 million of support for its first decade, but has still forecast a £6.7 million deficit up to 2029. The trust has also come in for criticism from some residents, including accusations that it used the historic Leazes Park as a “cash cow”.

Urban Green had aimed to secure prestigious Green Flag Awards for all 33 of Newcastle’s parks by 2026, but only Exhibition Park and Jesmond Dene now hold that status – with both Leazes Park and Walker Park losing the accolade this year.

Newcastle Lib Dem leader Colin Ferguson complained at Monday’s meeting that the opposition party had been “castigated” for questioning the outsourcing decision when the plans first emerged in 2017. He asked who should be held accountable for the move, to which Coun Kilgour replied that the decision was not taken by “any one individual” and had a “clear rationale”.

She also accused Coun Ferguson of “disgraceful behaviour” after he sought to link the return of the parks and the resulting financial cost to a separate proposal to make cuts to home to school transport for some children with special educational needs, which Coun Kilgour said predated UGN’s demise. Council finance chief Mark Nicholson added that the estimated £1.5 million per year cost of maintaining the parks to their current state would fall on the council regardless, whether it paid that to UGN or took on full responsibility itself.

Jim Beirne MBE, chair of trustees at Urban Green Newcastle, said: “Urban Green Newcastle was established five years ago by Newcastle City Council as a pioneering and visionary new approach to managing the city’s parks and allotments. In a short space of time the charity has achieved great things and we firmly believe, working in partnership with the city council, it could continue to achieve so much more for the people of Newcastle.

“However, we must now accept cabinet’s decision to bring the management of Newcastle’s parks and allotments back under local authority control, and we will work closely with Newcastle City Council to ensure a smooth transition so there is no impact or disruption to park and allotment users.”

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