Hampstead Heath is a huge area of public open space in London only four miles from Trafalgar Square. Its environment of woods, grasslands, ponds and hedges, with multiple habits, provides a unique area of varied natural landscape within the metropolitan area. The Heath is much loved and appreciated by its users for its natural qualities. Such a complex, valuable and well-used resource as the Heath has to be maintained for the future. Like most open spaces this can only be achieved by means of suitable management and it is necessary that a carefully considered plan or strategy is in place in order to accomplish this effectively.

Consultation Stall at Parliament Hill Fields, Hampstead Heath

The Environment Council, in conjunction with Resources for Change, designed, planned and delivered a consultation process on Towards a Plan for the Heath, Hampstead Heath’s draft Management Plan Part 1, during February – May 2007. This was the first step in a three-stage process to form a new Management Plan for Hampstead Heath, which is the responsibility of the City of London. The purpose of the new draft plan is to create a long-term vision for the Heath and to be an important tool for the City of London in successfully managing the Heath for the next 10-plus years. The aim of the consultation was to discover people’s aspirations and vision for the Heath and to get feedback on the strategic objectives contained in the Part 1 Management Plan document. 

The consultation was publicised and information about the draft Management Plan was disseminated through a range of different routes. These included features and advertising in the local press, a poster campaign, consultation stalls both on the Heath and in the local area, mailings to local groups and organisations and via the City of London’s website. A variety of methods were used to engage with and gather views from Heath users and the local public. These methods gave opportunities for both written and verbal feedback and included consultation stalls, response questionnaires and postcards, discussion groups, interviews and door-to-door surveys. 

The aim of the engagement was to reach and seek feedback from as wide a range of people as possible. It sought to gain an understanding of the needs, views and opinions of the Heath’s regular users also to engage non-users and low users to better understand why this was the case, and draw out possible motivators and barriers to the Heath’s potential use. 

Details of the consultation and its results have been compiled along with recommendations on next steps in a report (.pdf, 980KB) produced by The Environment Council and Resources for Change. The report and further information about the draft management plan are also available on the City of London’s website.  The City of London is using the information gained from the consultation to revise Towards a Plan for the Heath part 1 and to develop the next stage of the management plan document.

If you would like further information please contact Erica Sutton at The Environment Council by email or by telephone on 020 7632 0117.