Castle Point

Consultation was undertaken with residents and key stakeholders to understand how people in Castle Point use and value open spaces, needs and aspirations for the future and what might improve their attractiveness.

The resident’s survey was conducted between July – September 2023, with a total of 578 surveys completed representing 1,329 people across the borough.

• Overall, respondents thought that there was a need for more open spaces, however, high numbers also stated that there was sufficient provision in some types of open space.

• A large majority thought that there was a particular need for more woodlands, wildlife areas and nature reserves (58%), informal open spaces (52%) and facilities for teenagers (50%).

• Types of open spaces where respondents thought that there were enough facilities was water recreation facilities (39%).

• The quality of open spaces was seen as varied in how they were rated with ‘adequate’ being used as the most common rating.

• Beaches were rated the most highly in terms of quality with 66% of respondents either rating them as good or very good, followed by parks and recreation grounds (64%) and woodlands, wildlife areas and nature reserves (45%).

• Households highlighted the overall quality of outdoor facilities for teenagers as being either poor or very poor by 37% followed by 32% for water recreation facilities.

In general, the majority of respondents reported that they would not normally travel more than 15 minutes to visit open spaces. There is considerable variation however between the different types of open space, for example:

• 66% of households are prepared to travel more than 10 minutes to visit woodlands, wildlife areas and nature reserves. 51% would also travel more than 16 minutes to beaches.

• 51% of households would expect children’s play areas to be within a 10-minute travel time, of which 14% would not wish to travel more than 5 minutes.

• 43% of households would be prepared to travel between 10 minutes to parks and recreation grounds with only 13% willing to travel up to 5 minutes.

• 75% of households confirmed that they would be prepared to walk/cycle further if the quality of the route was improved; and 82% of households also said that if the quality of the route was improved, they would make the journey more often.

The results of the consultation/assessment of local needs and the audit of open spaces were used to develop standards (quantity, accessibility, and quality) for open space provision. Best practice guidance and existing local and national standards were also considered.

A summary of the quantity and access standards is as follows: