Temple Gardens User Survey
In a recent newsletter we announced the launch of a short survey to find out what visitors to Temple Gardens, the section of Victoria Embankment Gardens immediately adjacent to Temple Underground Station, thought about this urban park.
The survey was part of our Healthy Parks programme that focuses on working collaboratively with others to enhance green space for nature and people, and that supports the council’s climate emergency and ecological emergency declarations.
We received 85 individual responses – a good return and a reminder of how much people value and are willing to support local green space. So, a big thank you to everyone who took part. Here’s what we learned:
Results
The key findings are as follows:
- Most survey respondents visited Temple Gardens two or more times a week. Up to 10 minutes was the most popular visit length selected from the list of options we provided.
- People visited the gardens for different reasons, with the top reasons being for fresh air, for peace and quiet, during a stroll and to see the general landscape in the gardens.
- Most respondents felt the gardens were well or very well maintained.
We also wanted to find out what respondents liked least about the gardens. This helps us to focus conversations with the council’s officers, delivery teams and other partners. We frequently collaborate with the council’s Parks team who work hard throughout the seasons to manage their sites.
- Rough sleeping, nearby traffic noise, people loitering, and drug/alcohol use were the most least liked issues.
As for what any future enhancements might comprise:
- The most selected options from a list provided were a drinking water fountain, improved maintenance of flowers, and better lighting.
- Fewer bushy plants and more flowers were highlighted in the comments box alongside ideas on how the layout might be improved.
The survey also presented findings around additional subjects.
- Area safety is an important topics for us. Most respondents felt safe or very safe, but about a quarter felt unsafe or very unsafe.
- We also wanted to know whether the park made respondents connected to the local area history. Most respondents felt it did.
- Several respondents said they would like to volunteer in the gardens. This might involve for example, leaf clearance, litter picking, bulb planting, removal of vegetation.
We also provided an opportunity for respondents to share further thoughts. More planting, more benches, and more cleaning – for example, the statues – and addressing the desire line that has appeared through the central lawn were highlighted.
This is just a snapshot of the full results. Making changes, even small changes, to urban green spaces can take time, needs to be supported by a strong evidence base, and is subject to cost, deliverability, and consents but we’ve some great user feedback here to start working with. Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey.
Read more about our delivered public green space activity, such as Strand Aldwych and Christchurch Gardens.
