There are urban areas of England where no one lives within a 15-minute walk of nature, government data shows, as ministers scramble to meet their access to nature targets.
While the data shows 80% of people live within walking distance of green or blue spaces such as a river, park or woodland, it also reveals a disparity between rural and poorer urban areas.
Everyone will have to have access to green or blue space under the government’s environmental improvement plan, published at the end of last year.
In some areas of local authorities, fewer than 20% of residents live close to these spaces, according to data released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Wednesday. In one part of Middlesbrough, for example – the most deprived local authority in England – just 1% of people are within 15 minutes of nature, and in another just 16%.
In two parts of Doncaster, no homes are recorded as being within 15 minutes of green or blue space. There are also multiple areas of cities including Bristol and Southampton where no one has access to green space.
For local authorities as a whole, London has swathes of areas where many people are not within a short walk of green space. In Harrow, the City of London, Croydon and Waltham Forest, fewer than half of people meet the 15-minute standard.
Likewise, fewer than half of people are within a 15-minute walk of green space in north-east Lincolnshire, Leicester, Gedling, Nottingham and Knowsley.
The access minister, Sue Hayman, said: “Spending time in nature is so important for our mental and physical wellbeing, and this government is committed to delivering better access to nature for people across the country, no matter where they live.
“Access to nature still varies hugely between areas and we are working to make sure that this is a guarantee, not a postcode lottery. We have already taken action to improve access to nature by announcing the first of nine national river walks, the Mersey Valley Way and two new national forests.”
The data found that 91% of rural households have access to green or blue space compared with 78% of urban households.
According to previously released government data, in the 200 most disadvantaged local areas in urban settings with the lowest levels of green space, 97% have no access to green space within a 15-minute walk from home.
Nature campaigners have said government policies to deregulate planning policy for homes and infrastructure could lead to an erosion in the amount of green space available, particularly for those in less well off, urban areas.
The new legislation means housing developers will be able to build on once-protected green spaces without having to replace the loss of nature in the surrounding area.
Lack of access to nature has crucial implications for physical and mental health. Recent studies show that living near parks or natural green space reduces anxiety and depression by about 20%.
Conversely, those living more than 800 metres from green spaces reported notably higher levels of wellbeing issues, particularly during the Covid-19 lockdowns. There are risks, therefore, that the increasing unaffordability of homes in nature-rich areas for younger homeowners could be deepening health inequalities.
Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth said: “Everyone deserves access to natural spaces that are teeming with life and the many benefits they bring for the health and wellbeing of our communities and the planet.
“What these figures don’t tell us is the quality of the green and blue spaces people can access, where better provision does exist, and the other factors at play which determine who gets to enjoy nature and who doesn’t.”
He added: “The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. It’s one thing having wild spaces on your doorstep, but they need to be places where nature can thrive – not degraded and polluted as so many are.”
