Speaker key
IV Interviewer
RT Rebecca Towers
RT My name is Rebecca Towers. I am the parks and open spaces manager, and that means I manage the parks and open spaces department.
IV What role has Southwark and its team played in increasing the level of pride local people have for the borough?
RT Well, we really care about the quality of our parks and open spaces. We take, we take pride ourselves in making sure that parks and open spaces are clean and well maintained for the benefit of the local community because essentially we look after parks and open spaces on behalf of the local community. We are a big team; there are about 60 of us in total. We look after the tree section, cemeteries and crematorium as well as 130 parks and open spaces. So, there’s a lot of us, and we are all running around busily, looking after parks and open spaces, trees and cemeteries as well.
So, we understand the value of open space for people, particularly people who live in quite a highly dense area such as Southwark. I think it’s about 60% of people who live in flats in the borough, and many of those people won’t have access to their own garden or even a communal garden. So, parks and open spaces provide really essential open space, access to nature, access to a natural environment that people really need in terms of keeping balance in their lives. So, we understand the importance of parks and open spaces in terms of the health and wellbeing of the local community.
IV £6 million of investment has been awarded to Burgess Park. Can you tell us what impact it will have on the area?
RT So, we are very excited about the £6 million for Burgess Park, the £2 million from the mayor’s premier park fund, and then a £4 million match funding from the Elsbury new deal for communities. It’s really time for Burgess Park. We really felt that the time is right. All the communities have, are working really well together, and we are really excited about what this will mean for Burgess Park in the future.
Burgess Park is the last of our four major parks to receive any significant investment in recent history, and it is the biggest of Southwark’s parks. So really it is about time that Burgess Park got some attention. What we are looking to do with the £6 million is repair the basic infrastructure of the park. It’s about setting out a really successful blank canvas for the park which can then be built upon in the future. We want to make Burgess Park ultimately a safer and more welcoming environment for local people, and it’s a great opportunity to improve local people’s access to nature.
It’s such a big space and there are so many people that live within a one kilometre radius of the park that really, it’s quite an underutilised opportunity. So, it’s a great time, great time for parks, great time for Burgess Park.
IV Why do you think people should join Southwark?
RT The public run division is part of environment and housing, and I feel that I have a number of creative dynamic colleagues who I enjoy working with. It’s a really nice environment to work with and I have some really good colleagues who are also friends.
IV What is Southwark’s position on flexible working and family policies?
RT The Council encourages flexible working, and the policies are family friendly. We have really good, like I say, good terms and conditions here. Most staff are eligible for flexi time, so it means you can come in earlier one day, later the next, take off time that you accrue. We also have policies such as time off in lieu policies, and there are a number of different policies which help people who are carers or parents to take time off when children are off from school on holiday. So I think it’s an environment that really should appeal to people with those types of responsibilities.
IV What are the training and development opportunities like within your department/service area?
RT It’s a really, it’s a really good place to work. I've seen a lot of colleagues progress, start at one level, come to Southwark to do one job, and apply for jobs as they come up and get those and keep progressing. People do tend to stay in Southwark. I have a number of colleagues who have been in the Council for years. I myself have only been here for a year and a half, but I have no intentions to leave. The Council does care about training and development. It does invest in staff, and there are a number of opportunities to access training. There’s always offers of training courses going around, and I think the Council really is interested in lifelong learning and continuous professional development. So I'm happy in that respect.
[tape ends]
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