Build parks not roads, government told

Public money should be redirected from ‘grey’ projects to ‘green’ schemes, two official government advisory groups said this week in a new report.

Government funds should be spent creating parks and allotments rather than building roads and expanding airports, according to the report by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and Natural England.

Not only would this save billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, but it would also improve health, reduce carbon emissions, and create jobs.

“A complete change of priorities is needed,” the report reads.

“Every decision taken must aim to improve quality of life while reducing levels of pollution, water, energy use and waste.”

The groups called for millions of trees to be planted in Britain’s cities, as well as investment in green roofs.

This would help tackle climate change, keep urban areas cooler during the summer, and absorb water, reducing the risk of flooding.

Currently, just £20 per person is spent each year on the UK’s green spaces, compared to the £10.2 billion that is spent on road building and improvements.

The total money spent on roads is enough to build 1,000 new parks, whilst the £1.28 billion set aside for widening the M25 could instead be used to plant 3.2 million trees.

Richard Simmons, CABE’s chief executive, said: “At a time when investment in grey infrastructure, such as the new road building and road improvement programmes, runs into billions, investment in green infrastructure remains tiny.

“We have to redesign our cities in response to the imperative of climate change, and this means investment in hundreds of thousands of green roofs, millions more street trees, more parks and new urban greenways.”

Helen Phillips, Natural England chief executive, added: “Sustained investment in greening England’s cities would bring a huge range of environmental, economic and health benefits - stimulating jobs, improving people’s health, creating greater urban resilience to climate change and reconnecting urban communities with the natural environment.”