Council takes back control of its parks from struggling charity

Newcastle City Council has this week taken back control of the city’s 33 parks, 60 allotment sites and around 60 buildings from the charity that has been running them for the last six years.

The move comes amid concerns “following financial struggles” at the charity Urban Green Newcastle, which have been “largely brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic”, said the council.

This also follows a grant of £1m of additional funding for the charity from the council for the 2024/25 financial year. This was handed to the cash-strapped charity on the condition that a review of the management of the city’s parks and allotments was carried out.

According to the charity register Urban Green Newcastle’s income for the financial year ending March 2024 was £2.5m, however during this period it spent £3.2m.

This is the second time within the last five years that its spending has outstripped its income, with the last for the financial year ending March 2020.

From the start of this month staff have begun transferring across the council under TUPE arrangements.

The charity register details that the charity has 35 staff, eight trustees and oversees a volunteer workforce of 181.

“We know the positive impact that green spaces can have on the health and wellbeing of residents, but we are also aware of the significant challenges in managing these spaces,” said Cllr Alex Hay, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for neighbourhood spaces.

“We are looking forward to working with both residents and user groups to ensure these spaces thrive.

“We welcome the staff from Urban Green Newcastle, who have achieved some fantastic results over the last five years, and making best use of their knowledge and expertise.”

In a statement around the council’s decision last year to take back control of its parks, the charity’s chair Jim Beirne said : “We firmly believe a third sector approach to managing public infrastructure, including parks and allotments, continues to offer real advantages to the local authority and communities here in Newcastle, and those up and down the country.”