Published: Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Oxford City Council is asking for your views on its parks and open spaces. The Council has opened a consultation that will run until 31 March 2022.

The Covid lockdowns have changed our relationship with green spaces. Going outside to our parks – even when it was just for one hour a day – has been essential for so many people, highlighting their value and introducing more people to their benefits.

The City Council is keen to hear the views of Oxford residents, workers, students and visitors on our parks and green spaces as part of a satisfaction survey.

Why your views matter

The aim of the questionnaire is to find out what people think of their local green spaces and the facilities they provide as well as finding out how users how travel to them. We also want to know what aspect of the parks and open spaces users think is the most important to them. In short – if you use our parks we want to hear from you.

The City Council started asking for people’s views on the parks in 2000 and has continues to carry out surveys over the last 21 years.  The information provided by the surveys is used to improve services, provide evidence for capital bids, and to assess trends over time.

Oxford’s open spaces are for everyone  

Oxford City Council owns and manages just over 600 hectares of publicly accessible green space in the city and surrounding area. This includes a countryside park, 33 nature areas, 62 urban parks and public gardens, allotments (leased by individual associations) and four cemeteries. It also owns more waterside land than anyone else in the city; around 25 per cent of the Thames riverbank through Oxford, along with sites bordered by the river Cherwell, Castle Mill, Bullstake and Weirs Mill streams.

If you would like to comment on more than one green space please complete the survey multiple times. The survey will close on 31 March 2022.

“Oxford is so fortunate to have such an abundance of accessible open space. Those of us who live here were never more conscious of the benefits of being able to use this land than during the lockdown when it provided an outlet for exercise and relaxation.

“The City Council want to make sure that our open spaces continue to best meet the needs of all of their users and this survey will help us to make sure we can do that in the years to come.”

Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for Parks and Waste Reduction 

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