The Parks Trust (originally, the Milton Keynes Parks Trust) is a British registered charity formed in 1992 by

Milton Keynes Development Corporation Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) was a development corporation operating from 1967 to 1992 oversee the planning and early development of Milton Keynes, a new town midway between London and Birmingham. Establishment MKDC established o ...

to take over the public parks in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. It was given a £20 million endowment, based mainly in various commercial and retail properties in the city, and a 999-year lease on around of open space. The Trust's chief executive is Victoria Miles MBE. Many of the parks feature significant

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

, particularly in

Campbell Park Campbell Park is the name of the central park for Milton Keynes (England) and of a ward of Central Milton Keynes civil parish. (The nearby Campbell Park (civil parish) previously included the park but no longer does so. It did not change its na ...

. Milton Keynes is unusual in that most of the parks are owned and managed by a Trust rather than the local authority (

Milton Keynes City Council Milton Keynes City Council is the local authority of the City of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It has both borough status ...

), to ensure that the management of MK's green spaces are largely independent of the council's expenditure priorities. Together, the Parks Trust and the City Council manage of parkland, woodland and other open space across the

City of Milton Keynes The City of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority area with both borough and city status, in Buckinghamshire. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder o ...

unitary authority area.

Locations

As well as formal parks, the Trust looks after of lakes, the verges of of roads and three ancient woodlands. In total, the Trust looks after over of green space across Milton Keynes. Notable parks include

Willen Lake Willen Lake is a visitor attraction and public park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire The site is owned by The Parks Trust, an independent, self-funded charity that cares for and maintains over 6,000 acres of green space across MK. Willen La ...

in the east (the most popular public green space in Milton Keynes), Stanton Low Country Park in the north-west, and

Howe Park Wood Howe Park Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Tattenhoe, a district of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. It is owned by Milton Keynes City Council and managed by Milton Keynes Parks Trust. The site is semi-natural woodland which ...

in the south-west, as well as various forest and nature reserves and floodplains around MK.

References

External links

{{official, http://www.theparkstrust.com Organisations based in Milton Keynes Organizations established in 1992 1992 establishments in England Parks and open spaces in the Borough of Milton Keynes