UPDATE: Parks & Open Spaces

The Stour Valley Park is a visionary project that is proposing to create amazing places for people and a landscape for the common good.

The Stour Valley Park proposal

Stretching along 25km of the lower River Stour, from the Kingston Lacy estate to Hengistbury Head on the coast, this park will become a fantastic shared resource for generations to come.

Your help is needed to shape the park and make it into a landscape where people and nature thrive. We're running some public workshops online in early February, so sign up to one or fill in our survey and help shape our proposals for a Stour Valley Park. 

Find out more.

Good luck to Upton Country Park!

After a year when local outdoor spaces have never been more appreciated, the team at Upton Country Park are delighted to have been named as finalists for two awards in the prestigious 2020 Dorset Tourism Awards.

They are finalists for both the Dog Friendly Business of the Year and the Business Events & Wedding Venue of the Year. They have also been recommended in the Café/Tearoom of the Year category.

These nominations highlight the work that has been put into developing Upton Country Park for the benefit of the local community and we are thrilled this has been recognised.

The winners are being announced at the virtual awards ceremony on 4 February – fingers crossed!

Upton Country Park.

Parks in Mind virtual programme

Parks in Mind is running a virtual programme of activities during lockdown, to keep people engaged with nature and the outdoors, in order to deliver health and wellbeing benefits to all involved.

Their lockdown programme includes some easy-to-learn meditation sessions, virtual archaeology walks, some ancient pottery making and so much more!

Parks in Mind Virtual programme.

Parks in Mind run by the Bournemouth Parks Foundation.

Playing pitch strategy

Following on from a public consultation last year, we've developed a Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) for 2020-2033.

It provides an audit of the quality, quantity and accessibility of playing pitches; establishes current levels of demand; and projects forward demand likely to arise by the end of the strategy period.

Read the press release.

Street Food Corner bookings

If you're a registered, self-contained mobile food outlet with high-quality cuisine and a good-looking branded van or gazebo, then why not book into our Street Food Corner?

We're now taking bookings for mobile food outlets to sell gourmet food in Bournemouth and Poole's busy park locations, when COVID-19 restrictions allow.

Find out more.