May 2020
Webpage updates
Adding to the January updates the webpages had, we are now working on our Playgroud map, Local Nature Reserves map, Wildflower Meadows map as well as looking to create an Orchard map. All these maps will be interactive, showing photos and information on each site. These will enable the public to find out about each site before visiting.
As we did with the pilot site webpages, we are starting to revamp all the individual park pages on the PCC website to provide as much detail as possible about each site. We are working with our Friends of Park Groups to ensure we have the most up to date and relevant information online.
Wildflowers and No Mow May Campaign
Coronavirus (COVID-19) presented us with a unique opportunity to look at our operations for the green estate. Due to reduced staffing from sickness and redeployment to other essential services, we have had to reduce grass cutting across the city. This has fallen right in wildflower season and fits perfectly with other organisations campaigns. Find out more in our Operations Update.
We are supporting the Plantlife and National Trust campaign for No Mow May as we have reduced grass cutting. We are asking people to send us pictures and videos of the wildflowers and wildlife they are seeing on thier daily exercise on areas we are not cutting. We are encouraging No Mow May in peoples private gardens too.
This has led to supporting the #Scaremow campign where we have asked the public including schools and our partners to make a scaremow and place it in their garden or verge to scare the mowers away.
Social Media
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has also given us a chance to look at the auidenes we engage with and how we communicate with them. We have taken a slightly different aproach to our social media over the last few months, working with partners and posting activities, videos, live feeds, photos and other things linked to nature and wildlife that people can take part in.
This has been very successful with an increase in our social media engagements, impressions and followers. We will be producing a report at the end of June which will be available on this webpage.
New Look web-pages
We have given our 3 pilot site webpages a new look. Central Park, Devonport Park and Plymouth Hoe have changed slightly.
We are looking to gather feedback on the pages, what you would like to see and if there is anything important we have missed.
Find a Park, now has an interactive map where you can find out information about facilities, opening times, activities and more.
Event Booking Systems
Booking an event on Council land can be a bit daunting so we have simplified the webpage, you can take by visiting the Apply for an event on Council land page, to give you a clear method of expressing your interest in hosting an event. The application form has also been simplified for smaller community events.
Online Media 6 month report
Since the beginning of the project in June 2019 we have started to scheudle in our communications on our online channles, allowing us to have a constant stream of content for you to engage with, including events, nature, activities, volunteering and more. We also created a new Facebook page for Central Park, to ensure you never miss anything happening in Plymouth's largest park.
Here are some of the headline figures from the 6 month review.
| Baseline | Six month review | |
|---|---|---|
| Engagements | 498 | 1169 |
| Mentions | 36 | 115 |
| Followers | 2405 | 2482 |
| Impressions | 40170 | 68284 |
| Baseline | Six month review | |
|---|---|---|
| Followers | 1159 | 1389 |
| Page views | 9927 | 10391 |
| Engagements | 178940 | 111974 |
| Reach | 1809856 | 867994 |
Follow us to find out more and keep up to date
#plymouthparksmatter is the campaign that was started to launch this project in June 2019. This tag is being used on media posts and branding linked to the Plymouth GEMS project. Visit our Latest News section to see it in action and why not start using it yourself when you post about being in your local park or greenspace.
Baseline Research
We undertook some baseline research in to the current way we communicate with our audience including the Nature, Parks and Greenspace webpages, Nature Plymouth Twitter and Facebook. This data was collected from July 2018 - June 2019. To enhance this baseline data we also gathered sentiment analysis from our 3 pilot sites (Central Park, Devonport Park and Plymouth Hoe) at events through questionnaires and comments and feedback through our online channels and Trip Advisor.
Nature Plymouth Online Baseline Data [PDF, 1.29MB]
Website Improvements
Since June 2019, there have been some improvements made to the some of the parks, nature and greenspaces webpages. This will help to navigate the pages, improve accessibility of content and enhance the look and feel to make them more appealing and part of a brand.
Have a look at some of our pages by visiting the Parks, Nature and Greenspaces area on the website.
Pilot Site Sentiment Analysis
We took reviews from the known site Trip Advisor and looked at comments from July 2018 - June 2019 for all three pilot sites.
Below you can see the sentiment for Central Park. These are split between positive and negative review words. For full sets for each site use the link above for the Nature Plymouth Online Baseline Data
Along with the Trip Advisor reviews, we also asked a series of questions at events at the pilot sites, giving us some more data to support the interventions for this project. See below some extracts of that data.
Love Parks Event at Central Park
During Love Parks Week in July 2019, which is a Keep Britain Tidy campaign, we held a large community event at Central Park, to celebrate the opening of some new facilities - the Meadow Cafe and the tennis courts - but also to showcase how much is on offer to do at Central Park. Over 2000 people attended this event enjoying over 30 stalls, free activities, music and learning about parks, nature and greenspace. This event has been shortlisted for the Love Parks Award for the Keep Britain Tidy Network Awards.
Love Parks Evaluation Report - Aug 2019 [PDF, 3.59MB]