Oxford City Council currently intends to build on all of the open green space on Bertie Park. They would like to compensate by upgrading a nature trail on the adjoining wasteland. I had a conversation with Oxford City Council in which they said that this was not problematic as they didn’t see a difference between “open” green space and “green space”. For the council, there is no difference between a recreation ground and a nature trail, after all, they are both green.
I know that the council plays games with words. See previous blog: Oxford City Council’s Use of language: https://wordpress.com/post/savebertie.com/187 This spurred me on to do a little research. In their Green Spaces Strategy, Oxford City Council acknowledges that there are “many types of green space”, with different uses and qualities, attracting different sections of the community. This certainly rings true. We have a Facebook series on things that you can do on an open green space, but not on a nature trail.
The Green Spaces strategy also states that every playground should be surrounded by a buffer zone. The size depends on the type of play area. A Neighbourhood Equipped Area for Play (NEAP) is mainly for older children but with play opportunities for younger children too. According to some sources, the recommended buffer zone for a NEAP is 30m from the boundary of the nearest property.
So, it looks very much like our open green space is really a buffer zone, and that Oxford City Council would like to re-provide the WHOLE of the buffer zone around the play areas on Bertie Park as a family nature trail on a separate site, which will be unsuitable for unaccompanied children.
Save Bertie Park Oxford 