The push to open up the ‘locked and bolted’ green spaces of UK cities

Campaigners want privately owned and often unused parks and shared gardens in London and elsewhere to be accessible

The motley crew of Dickensian characters scale the giant wooden stile and, cheering, breach the spiked fences and thickly hedged defences of Cadogan Square Gardens in Knightsbridge, London. An ersatz Scrooge scolds a mock Oliver Twist, who hoists up a sign reading: “Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?”

Usually accessible only with fobs and keys, the garden is lovely. But who would know that? Apart from the protesters, no one is there. There is no one enjoying the ornamental beds, exotic plants or sweeping lawns. No one is looking at the sculptures, squaring off on the tennis court or walking through the “pollinator meadow”. It’s Sunday afternoon but there are no children in the playground.

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