Newcastle City Council bosses set for grilling over move to take back parks from charity Urban Green

Council bosses are set to face a grilling over a move to retake control over Newcastle’s parks.

Leaders agreed last week to cut off funding to Urban Green Newcastle (UGN), the charity which has managed 33 Tyneside parks and more than 60 allotments since 2019, and return responsibility for them to the city council. The decision to cut short what was described as a “visionary” experiment for Newcastle’s green spaces less than six years into a 125-year lease comes after worries over the state of UGN’s finances, with a review having found “no evidence” that it could continue operating without “substantial financial support from the council for the foreseeable future”.

But there are also fears about how the local authority, which itself is expected to announce another significant round of spending cuts in the coming days, will be able to meet the cost of running the parks itself. Liberal Democrat opposition councillors have now mounted a ‘call in’ of the Labour administration’s decision to pull the plug on Urban Green, meaning top council officials are now set to be summoned for questioning at a special scrutiny hearing.

At the time of original handover to Urban Green, it was hoped that a charity would be able to access more income after the council had slashed its annual parks budget from £2.58 million in 2010/11 to less than £1 million. Civic centre finance chiefs now say that a minimum of £1.5 million will be needed each year just to keep the parks from deteriorating and are yet to identify where that money will come from.

Ouseburn Lib Dem councillor Mike Cookson, who will lead the call in request, said: “Finally, councillors outside the Labour cabinet will get their chance to have a say on the next steps for our City’s parks and allotments. The £1.5 million annual cost that the council will now have to find every year will have an impact on services across the city and the decision needs to be discussed openly and honestly. I hope that all councillors from all parties will now get a chance to give their views.”

The council has argued that Urban Green’s financial position means that the annual £1.5 million cost would fall to the local authority regardless and that bringing the services back in-house to the civic centre will offer greater control. 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.

Its problems have been blamed on factors including disruption from the Covid pandemic, inflation, and council-imposed limits on staging large music festivals. UGN’s assets and around 40 staff are expected to transfer to the council by the end of January.

A council spokesperson said: “Members of council have submitted a request to call in Cabinet’s decision to not provide further funding to Urban Green Newcastle. This request has been accepted and the call in will be considered by Overview Scrutiny and Coordination Committee on a date to be set.”

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