Accessible Natural Greenspace in Essex

With funding from Natural England, Essex Wildlife Trust recently undertook an analysis of how well the Essex population is served by access to natural greenspaces. The findings are reported in the downloadable document below.

Natural greenspaces are areas of land that have some kind of natural processes going on, whether that is the scrubby strip of land around the edge of the recreation ground, or the ancient woodland that has been there for hundreds of years. To be accessible, there should be freely available public access to the area, in a greater form than a public right of way crossing the land.

Natural England has devised the Accessible Natural Greenspace Standard (ANGSt), which sets out the minimum amount of accessible natural greenspace that any household should be within reach of. The criteria state that:

• no person should live more than 300 metres from their nearest area of accessible natural greenspace of at least 2 hectares in size;
• there should be at least one accessible 20 hectare site within 2 kilometres of home;
• there should be one accessible 100 hectare site within 5 kilometres of home;
• there should be one accessible 500 hectare site within 10 kilometres of home.

The results show that only 7% of Essex households have all of their ANGSt requirements met, and perhaps more worryingly 14% of households within Essex have none of their ANGSt requirements met. Interestingly, the areas that fare the worst according to the ANGSt criteria are the more rural parts of the county; although there may be greenspace surrounding rural inhabitants, there is often limited official public access beyond the footpath network.

Research demonstrates that using natural greenspace reduces heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes, so by supporting the provision of accessible natural greenspace, local authorities will be promoting the health and well-being of the people, while also providing valuable habitats for wildlife.

Copies of the Analysis of Accessible Natural Greenspace Provision for Essex have been sent out to relevant contacts within all the local authorities in Essex, highlighting the findings of the analysis and raising awareness of the benefits that accessible natural greenspace provide.

Download (pdf)
Analysis of Accessible Natural Greenspace Provision for Essex, including Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock Unitary Authorities