Community involvement in the restoration of historic urban parks : with a specific focus on the Heritage Lottery Fund's Urban Parks Programme grant-aided park restoration projects.

Community involvement is nowadays commonly recognised as an integral part of any
successful environmental planning, development and regeneration process. Focusing on a
selection of park restoration projects grant-aided by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in 1997
under the Urban Parks Programme (UPP), this research aimed primarily to investigate the
involvement of local communities in the process of regenerating run-down historic urban
parks. The study adopted a triangulation methodology which combined both quantitative and
qualitative research approaches and employed multiple data-collecting techniques including a
postal questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and on-site park user
surveys.
The results of the postal questionnaire survey reveal that park restoration partnerships between
local authorities, private sector, voluntary organisations and local community-based groups
can commonly be observed in many of the historic urban park restoration projects funded by
the HLF under the UPP. Local authorities in general played the leading role in forming and
running park restoration partnerships and they were the major contributors to the matched
funding and the required technical support for the restoration projects. The involvement of
friends groups and other local organisations in park restoration partnerships was relatively
moderate, but the case studies of this research demonstrate that friends groups and other local
organisations can have a more substantial influence on the overall development of the
restoration project when the park restoration partnership is formally established.
The study has found that local communities have been extensively involved in the restoration
process of historic urban parks. The two most significant objectives of engaging local
communities in regenerating run-down historic urban parks are to generate a sense of
ownership of the restoration project and its outcome and to better reflect local needs. Local
communities tend to be more involved at early stages of the restoration project than at later
stages. The methods that have been commonly used to involve local communities are mainly
for information giving and consultation.
The seven in-depth case studies reveal that 'Friends of Parks' groups are in general the focus of
community involvement in the UPP funded park restoration projects. 'Friends of Parks'
groups can act as pressure groups, guardians and/or supporters of the park and to be the local
community's voice. They can make considerable contributions to the regeneration of their
local parks, mainly in the areas of publicity, park events and activities, fund raising, public
consultation, project monitoring, involving school children, and the ongoing management of
the restored park.
The most important contributory factor to effective community involvement is a good
relationship between the local authority and the 'Friends of Parks' groups, which can be
achieved mainly by establishing friends groups' trust in the local authority's commitment to
caring for urban parks and taking on board the friends groups' views and concerns. Project
managers and other practitioners engaged in involving local communities in park restoration
processes as well as executive members of 'Friends of Parks' groups are all required to have
good communication skills in order to achieve effective community involvement.