Symposium | Who pays for parks?

Previously Chief Executive South Bank Employers’ Group 2004-2015 and prior to that Director, Imperial War Museum, Duxford, 1978-2004. The Jubilee Gardens Trust is the local charity which brings together neighbouring landowners, local businesses and community representatives to manage and maintain Jubilee Gardens to the highest standards and for the long term. The Trust took over responsibility for the Gardens, which are used by some 5.5m people each year, following their re-landscaping for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012

Valerie Beirne is an award-winning place practitioner with over 15 years of experience working within the business improvement district sector. She is currently Head of Public Realm at WeAreWaterloo and previously led the Bankside Urban Forest and Low Line programmes at Better Bankside. A landscape architect by training she has worked across public, private and charity sectors.

Iain Boulton is a longstanding member of the Lambeth Parks and Open Spaces team for the London Borough of Lambeth, leading on biodiversity, planning and community involvement in managing and improving over 100 parks, commons, and public open spaces. Iain and the team are actively working to maximise income from a wide range of sources to ensure their hard-won high standards in terms of the quality and diversity of Lambeth’s open spaces are maintained and continues to improve

Ruth Lin Wong Holmes has 30 years’ experience as a Chartered Landscape Architect working for the public, private and voluntary sectors. Currently at London Legacy Development Corporation, responsible for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and developing neighbourhoods. She worked for The Royal Parks caring for over 5,000 acres of historic parkland in London working closely with Park Managers to improve the Parks with landscape architects. managers and designers.  At a Groundwork Trust, she specialised in co-design of greenspaces within housing estates.

Voluntary roles include Vice Chair for the Royal Parks Guild (championing London parks and horticultural apprentices/trainees), Vice President and Fellow of the Landscape Institute, a London in Bloom/Green Flag/Green Heritage Judge and Metropolitan Public Gardens Association Committee member. Previously she has been involved with World Urban Parks Healthy Parks Healthy Cities, Chair of the London Parks and Gardens Trust, and Bumblebee Conservation Trustee. She has a passion for the natural environment, inclusivity and creating a sustainable future.

Charlotte Glazier is founder of Roots Ahead Ltd and has a background as a Chartered Landscape Architect with 20 years’ local authority experience. She has pioneered test-and-learn, systems-change public realm stewardship programmes including Islington Greener Together, NEIRF Green Finance for the Pocket Park Framework and InvestiNatures. She works with children, communities, neighbourhoods and at a borough scale, unlocking impact and new finance drivers across local authorities and charities.

Charlie founded Roots & Berries in 2014 with The Skylark Café on Wandsworth Common. Since then the family of cafés has grown into eight different green spaces across six London boroughs, with a focus of being welcoming to all, and playing its part in making all parks and commons vibrant, happy and healthy places for everyone to spend time.

James Manning is Head of Strategy for Grosvenor’s London Estate, where he leads portfolio and district strategy and helps shape Grosvenor’s long-term vision for the West End. His role focuses on aligning commercial performance, place-making and sustainability, ensuring Grosvenor’s historic neighbourhoods continue to thrive for residents, businesses and visitors. James has worked across strategy, sustainability and innovation at Grosvenor. He is also a Board Director and Deputy Chair of the Better Buildings Partnership, contributing to industry-wide collaboration on the future of sustainable cities and places.

Dilip is an experienced landscape architect with more that 20 years expertise in horticulture and planting design. His earlier initial background in Accounting and Finance enables him to quickly understand the figures that matter in managing landscapes. He has also previously managed his own garden maintenance business.

He is a chartered landscape architect and is currently a committee member Chair of Landscape Institute’s London Branch Committee, organising their very active CPD events calendar following three years as the chair.

He has a wealth of experience in designing and delivering sensitive, well-considered landscape schemes and has developed an in-depth knowledge regarding climate resilient species and sustainable construction methods. Other work has included preparing a landscape management plan for heritage fund application and input into tender reviews for long term management of green spaces. Recent events chaired by Dilip include the successful Urban Greening symposium series held at the Garden Museum.

He is also mad about Opera and learning to box in the local park