Heatwave puts spotlight on Portsmouth's £980,000 nature positive project
Heatwave highlights Portsmouth's £980,000 plan for greener, cooler neighbourhoods
During this week’s heatwave, Portsmouth City Council highlighted a £980,000 scheme to create greener, cooler neighbourhoods and help communities cope with extreme weather.
Bigger tree canopies, air quality screens and greater access to green spaces have been highlighted as part of a nearly £1m nature positive programme.
Portsmouth City Council recently highlighted climate resilience work being delivered through Nature Positive Portsmouth on the same day parts of the country experienced record temperatures.
Nature Positive Portsmouth is a National Lottery Heritage Fund-funded project delivered through a partnership between Natural England and the National Trust.
The project has secured £980,000 in funding and will run until June 2028.
A recent council meeting highlighted how the project is benefiting people’s health through sustainable urban drainage, increased tree canopy cover, air quality green screens and “unlocking hidden green space and addressing barriers” to accessing green spaces.
Work is specifically focused on Paulsgrove, Portsea neighbourhoods and Buckland.
The funding aims to help Portsmouth become more resilient to climate hazards such as heatwaves and intense rainfall that can lead to surface water flooding.
The project will also help develop an Urban Forest Master Plan to create a more resilient treescape. This will provide more shade and cooling, release water vapour and absorb rainwater.
The meeting took place on 24 June, when temperatures soared across the country during a heatwave, including a record breaking 36C in Gosport.
Helen Atkinson MBE, director of public health, said: “To state the obvious today shows us why this work is so important because ultimately the greening and all of the other work is critical to us managing climate change, the consequences we’re seeing today.”