00:00Newcastle's City Council have confirmed they'll be taking back control of over 30 of the city's parks.
00:04After agreeing to cut funding for Urban Green, the company set up to look after the parks just five years ago.
00:09The charity was set up to save the council over £110m,
00:12and the belief was that the plan to run 33 parks and more than 60 allotments,
00:15described at the time as visionary, would generate income to be reinvested in Newcastle's green spaces.
00:20Council leader Karen Kilgour has stated that events, including the Covid pandemic,
00:25have meant that taking back running of the parks would represent the best value for residents.
00:28Issues including high repair bills, inflation rates and the council's own restrictions on music festivals
00:34have also been factors cited in Urban Green's difficulties.
00:36Council deputy leader Alex Hayer refutes claims that this backtrack highlights that
00:40setting up Urban Green in the first place was a bad idea.
00:42But leader of the Lib Dem opposition Colin Ferguson remembered that
00:45his party had questioned the decision to set up Urban Green in the first place.
00:49Urban Green had aimed to secure prestigious green flag awards for all 33 of Newcastle's parks by 2026,
00:54but both Leazes Park and Walker Park actually lost that accolade this year.
00:57And only two of the city's parks still retain this status.
Comments