Parks 'to Be Run By Charities' Under Plans Backed By the National Trust

Parks will be removed from the control of councils and run by charities under plans backed by the National Trust to stop them closing and falling into disrepair.

Earlier this year MPs warned that parks risked returning to the neglect of the Eighties and Nineties because of budget cuts, with many facing the threat of closure.

As a result local authorities are considering plans to fund the maintenance of parks through charitable donations in order to keep them up and running.

Newcastle City Council is the first local authority in the country to consider handing over its public parks to someone else to run.