Big Conversation Portsmouth: City's beauty spots were a lockdown lifeline to 60 per cent of people

Our Big Conversation survey discovered 60 per cent of more than 1,000 respondents considered these places important to their personal wellbeing now or before the pandemic.

Early into the pandemic the housing, communities and local government secretary, MP Robert Jenrick, told councils via a coronavirus news conference that parks must stay open for Britons in lockdown.

It came after he said it ‘cannot be right’ some authorities had closed their parks to stop unauthorised gatherings.

On the figures from the Big Conversation, Nick Sebley, of Portsmouth Climate Alliance, said: ‘So many studies now confirm, what we know intuitively, that being able to easily access green and open spaces is vital for our mental and physical health.

‘There really are no downsides to making it easier to get to these places but it needs leadership and vision from our council.

‘Why not put on a very cheap park and ride stopping off at all our greenest most open spaces – the seafront and Milton Common for example – so people can leave their car at home for the day?’

The city’s current Park and Ride runs from Tipner Lane.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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