New Research: HCEB and Colne Valley Regional Park research the use of the natural environment before and during lockdown

The HCEB and the Colne Valley Regional Park (CVRP) are working on a joint project to understand how local people have or have not used the natural environment around them before and during the Covid-19 lockdown. Where communities have used the natural environment, the HCEB and the CVRP are keen to understand how they have used it and what their experiences have been. Where communities have not used the natural environment, the HCEB and the CVRP are keen to understand the reasons for this and how this could be encouraged.

The research will involve two elements to ensure that views and experiences are captured from the area surrounding Heathrow Airport, including those near to the southern end of Colne Valley Regional Park. The overall aims of the research programme are to: 

  • Understand how local people have used the natural environment during the period before lockdown and how important it has become to them during lockdown 

  • Understand how communities’ value green areas

  • Identify what people have encountered, what they have / haven’t enjoyed 

  • Capture granular data on the awareness and use of a section of the Colne Valley Regional Park (CVRP nearest to Heathrow 

  • Highlight any areas suffering from poor quality / lack of investment, including as a result of ‘urban’ activities (e.g. those associated with Heathrow) 

  • Use the findings to demonstrate to Heathrow and other agencies (including local and central government) the value and potential of the natural environment in this area to local communities 

  • Highlight the scope and need for investment in the area irrespective of expansion 

To help us do this, we will be working with the research company 'YouGov' who will carry out online surveys and focus groups.  The respondents will be selected to reflect a representative cross-section of people living within a 4-5 mile radius of Heathrow airport to understand their experiences of using local green space before and during lockdown, how this changed (if at all) during that time, and the impact that green space has had on them. 

Then to gain more granular feedback on the use of CVRP, YouGov will conduct an online forum with 30 respondents living in the area by the southern part of the park closest to Heathrow (e.g. Stanwell Moor, Horton, Poyle, Colnbrook, Richings Park and parts of West Drayton, Brands Hill and Sutton).

The field work will start in the middle of September and we hope to publish the findings towards the end of October.

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