Newcastle councillor warns of 'urgent questions' over city parks after chief executive's resignation

A leading councillor has warned there are “urgent questions” about the future of Newcastle’s parks, after a boss’ resignation.

It was announced last week that Carol Pyrah is quitting her post as chief executive of Urban Green Newcastle (UGN), the charity which has been in control of 33 parks and more than 60 allotments in the city since 2019. That news came just a few weeks before Newcastle City Council is set to make a critical decision on the future of the city’s green spaces.

The findings of a council-commissioned review into Urban Green’s operation are due to be published later this month, after significant concerns about the trust’s finances emerged earlier this year. According to sources who have spoken to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), it is considered likely that the council will opt to cut short UGN’s 125-year lease on the parks and return responsibility for them to the civic centre.

Coun Colin Ferguson, leader of Newcastle’s Liberal Democrat opposition, warned that the city’s green spaces “need bold political ambition if they are to survive and thrive” and claimed that has been “sorely lacking in recent years”.

He said: “We place on record our thanks to Carol for the work she has done to help our City’s parks and allotments recover post-Covid. This was no easy inheritance. Urgent questions must now be asked about what this means for the future of Urban Green and the City’s parks, given this month’s anticipated report to cabinet on the subject. Is the writing on the wall?

“What will this instability and flux mean for the smooth running of the City’s green spaces, amidst the challenges our parks face? With the rising cost of maintenance bills, pressure to keep up standards, and the importance of supporting volunteer Friends groups, can we have confidence that the future of Newcastle’s parks and allotments will be safe, whatever decision the Labour cabinet wants to make?”

UGN’s most recent set of financial accounts detailed how 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. It had originally been hoped that a charity would be able to run the parks more effectively and access a wider variety of funding sources than the council, after years of budget cutting at the civic centre.

But the local authority had to award UGN a further £1 million this year to balance its books, while the charity’s accounts forecast an expected £6.7 million deficit up to 2029. The city council has been running a public consultation of the future of Newcastle’s parks in recent weeks, ahead of the crunch meeting of the Labour-run authority’s cabinet on November 25.

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “We are currently consulting the public on our parks and allotments as part of a review into their future management. A report is expected to go to Cabinet for a decision in November and no decision will be made before that meeting. The council’s finances are under severe pressure at the moment as is the case for many other local authorities. However, we understand how important these assets are to our residents, and are absolutely committed to making them attractive, welcoming places for everyone’s enjoyment.”

Ms Pyrah will leave UGN at the end of November to become chief operating officer at Ripon Cathedral in North Yorkshire and will be replaced on an interim basis by David Theobald, the city council’s former assistant director of capital investment. Urban Green Newcastle was contacted for a comment.

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