Lewisham is No. 1 for parks in London
Produced by the charity Parks for London, this assessment is rigorous and shows how London borough parks services perform against ten Good Parks criteria, showcasing examples of good practice and case studies. London’s inner-city boroughs are punching well above their weight with the top three borough scores in 2024.
Pupils from Downderry Primary school joined the Mayor of Lewisham, Brenda Dacres, Deputy Mayor, Louise Krupski, local MPs, ward councillors, Glendale and local residents at Beckenham Place Park today to celebrate Lewisham topping the table of the Good Parks for London Report 2024 this week.
The Good Parks for London report promotes and celebrates the amazing work that London boroughs do to maintain and develop the capital’s parks and green spaces. The aim of these reports is to promote good practice, raise quality standards and help lobby to protect park budgets and resources. This year’s assessment shows how participating London borough parks services are performing against ten Good Parks criteria:
- Public satisfaction
- Quality standards
- Collaboration
- Events
- Health, fitness and wellbeing
- Supporting nature
- Community involvement
- Skills development
- Sustainability
- Strategic planning
Lewisham scored highly in all these areas and was commended for working so hard and significantly improving on its overall score compared to the prior assessment in 2022. This makes Lewisham not just the top performing borough but also one of the five big improvers celebrated this year.
This year’s report underscores the importance of collaboration in addressing the challenges parks services face. Headlined ‘Collaborative Solutions,’ the report features nine case studies that emphasise the crucial role of partnership working.
The second and third highest scoring boroughs were Hackney and Lambeth, also inner-city boroughs doing fantastic work to make sure Londoners have access to high quality green spaces.
Brenda Dacres, Mayor of Lewisham said:
“This is a huge achievement for Lewisham to be independently assessed as being the top performing borough in this year’s Good Parks for London report.
“We are so proud of our fantastic parks’ team, our excellent partners Glendale and all our amazing volunteers and Friends’ groups across our borough who work so hard to make sure that our parks and nature reserves are so special. Their commitment and passion for championing excellence in our green spaces for our residents is truly outstanding and we really appreciate everything they do.”
Cllr Louise Krupski, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action said:
“We love our green spaces in Lewisham and value them very highly. Many of our residents live in flats and need access to decent parks and nature reserves so we work very hard to make our parks the very best they can be.
“Our valued staff are integral to this result and with a comprehensive skills programme, at all career stages, our teams are well supported to reach their full potential, gain meaningful career progression and most importantly, enjoy what they do which leads to these fantastic results.
“This assessment gives us an indication of where we can improve still further. I am excited and proud to see Lewisham topping the table and huge thanks to everybody involved!”
Ed Stannard, Executive Director of Parks for London said:
"It gives me great pleasure to launch this report and celebrate the incredible work of all those that own, manage, and maintain publicly accessible green spaces across our capital. Whilst I hope the report inspires and entertains, its value truly lies in how it drives incremental improvement in London's park management, supports strategic planning, and helps secure the resources needed to protect and enhance our cherished green spaces for future generations.”
Darren Budden, General Manager, Glendale Grounds Management said:
“We are thrilled that Lewisham is the highest performing borough for its’ parks service in this year’s Good Parks for London 2024 report.
“This accolade really shows the commitment to Lewisham Parks and Open Spaces by Lewisham Council, Glendale and all our friends groups and other volunteers who contribute in so many ways. We would like to thank Parks for London for their ongoing support and their valuable work to help improve parks right across London.”
Lewisham recently won three gold awards for parks and conservation areas at the London in Bloom Awards 2024. We also won three silver gilt awards recognising our small parks and nature reserves in the borough. Lewisham’s parks and green spaces successfully retained all 23 Green Flags this year, the awards given to the very best green spaces around the world. In addition, Beckenham Place Park achieved the prestigious Green Heritage Site Accreditation, supported by Historic England.
Lewisham Council, in partnership with Glendale, manages 47 parks and 15 nature reserves across the borough – each with its own unique character and environment. Find out more about Lewisham’s parks and open spaces and nature reserves.