Hampshire County Council manages a number of country parks and farm attractions and these include:

• Lepe Country Park
• Queen Elizabeth Country Park
• River Hamble Country Park
• Royal Victoria Country Park
• Manor Farm Country Park
• Staunton Country Park
• Staunton Farm

Planning Solutions Consulting has been working with Hampshire County Council Countryside Team identifying customer sentiment, attitudes and influences following the arrival of COVID-19. The online survey had a very positive response (more than 2,500 individual responses) which in part shows how people are highly engaged with their most valued outdoor spaces.

The result highlight that there is a very strong positive response in terms of the impact of country park visits on people’s quality of life. Nearly all respondents acknowledge the important role of accessing public outdoor space and some 99% agree that it has a positive role on their mental health and wellbeing. More than four in five respondents believe this has become even more important since the advent of COVID-19 and it is clear that facing a prolonged period of lockdown has reinforced and enhanced people’s appreciation and attitude to the outdoors. COVID-19 is likely to bring changes in visitor demand for recreation and the survey strongly suggests that country parks will be one sector to benefit from increased throughput.

If you would like to receive a copy of the summary report and infographic please email Kevin Brown (kevin@pslplan.co.uk) or Richard Linington (richard@pslplan.co.uk)

How can we help?
If you are starting to think customer research or about the next phase of development for your country park or recreation site and would like to learn a bit more about our experience in the sector please don’t hesitate to email or call (07866 742 628) Richard Linington.