Newcastle parks boss quits weeks before huge decision as Urban Green's future hangs in the balance

The woman in charge of Newcastle’s parks has resigned, just weeks before a critical decision on the future of the city’s green spaces.

Carol Pyrah has quit as the chief executive of Urban Green Newcastle (UGN), the charity which manages 33 parks and more than 60 allotments on Tyneside. She will depart at the end of November to become chief operating officer at Ripon Cathedral in North Yorkshire.

News of her exit comes after months of major uncertainty surrounding the charity’s finances, scathing criticism of its record and the prospect that the trust could soon be shut down. UGN was handed control of the parks by Newcastle City Council in 2019, in the hope that it could run them more effectively and generate more revenue than the cash-strapped local authority.

But the charity has already used up all of an initial £7.7 million subsidy from the council that was meant to see it through its first decade in operation, after which it was supposed to become self-sustaining, and had to be awarded a further £1 million by civic centre bosses to balance the books this year. Inflated energy costs and the impact of Covid-19 were blamed for the trust’s woes, which led the council to launch a review to determine how the parks should be managed from now on.

Ahead of the findings of that review being put to council leaders in November, sources have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that there is a growing expectation that the council will opt to take back control of the green spaces itself – cutting short UGN’s 125-year lease.

Ms Pyrah is just the latest key figure to exit the charity over recent weeks, the LDRS can also reveal. It is understood that Urban Green’s property and finance managers have both left this month, following on from the departure of its cafe manager earlier this year.

In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Pyrah said she believed in the council’s "original vision for the city’s parks and allotments”. She added: “Against the backdrop of some challenging times in the charity’s short history, everyone at the Urban Green Newcastle has retained a positive, can-do attitude that has allowed us to deliver so many great things in the past two and half years. This includes bringing in over 50% of the income to look after the city’s parks and allotments halfway through the charity’s 10-year journey to financial sustainability.

“We’ve seen a huge amount of investment in sport across the city’s parks, with improved football pitches at Walker Park and Paddy Freeman’s Park; as well as the complete transformation of Newcastle’s park tennis courts. Working in partnership with national walking and cycling charity Sustrans, Urban Green Newcastle also upgraded sections of the popular walking and cycling route at Tyne Riverside Country Park and Walker Riverside Park. I’m proud of the large number of events we’ve enabled in the city’s parks, from over 2,000 community events a year, to bringing Northern Lights Newcastle to Leazes Park which was enjoyed last year by over 100,000 people."

She joined UGN in 2022, replacing James Cross, having previously held senior positions at English Heritage and Historic England. Her departure ahead of a crunch council cabinet meeting to decide Urban Green’s future on November 25 is reminiscent of former Your Homes Newcastle managing director Tina Drury’s exit last year, which was announced ahead of the council deciding to abolish the social housing management body and return its functions to the civic centre.

Ms Pyrah will be replaced on an interim basis by David Theobald, the city council’s former assistant director of capital investment. Jim Beirne MBE, chair of trustees at Urban Green Newcastle called Ms Pyrah an “exceptionally creative and strategic chief executive”.

On top of its financial concerns, Urban Green has come in for repeated criticism over its management of the city’s parks. It was involved in a row with the city council over the impact of staging big music festivals in Exhibition Park and was accused earlier this year of treating Leazes Park as a “cash cow”. Both Leazes Park and Walker Park have also lost their prestigious Green Flag status recently.

City council chief executive Pam Smith said Ms Pyrah had “worked tirelessly”. She added: “Carol joined Urban Green Newcastle as chief executive following the pandemic and has led the organisation through a time when parks and green spaces have never been more important to the health and wellbeing of our residents.

“We are currently consulting on the management of our parks and green spaces with a report expected at Cabinet in November. I want to thank Carol for everything she has done for our city’s green spaces and wish her all the best for the future.”

Regarding the resignation of the property, finance, and cafes managers from the charity, a UGN spokesperson confirmed: “Following the departure of our Property Manager in October this year, we have appointed a new member of staff into a replacement role of Facilities and Property Co-ordinator. We have also interviewed and made an offer for a new Finance Manager who we expect to join the charity in November.

“Our talented Cafe Manager left the charity in March and we began recruiting immediately for a new Business Manager. Unfortunately we were unable to appoint at that time but we are planning to advertise again in the new year.”

Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community

Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community for all the latest news direct to your phone.

To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.

If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.

If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN