Millennium Greens Project

The Millennium Greens Project started towards the close of the last millennium as the nation began to plan celebrations for the turn of the millennium. The Millennium Commission was set up by the government to use money from the National Lottery to celebrate and commemorate the event, intending to leave a permenant legacy. In 1997, £10 Million was set asside to create 250 Millennium Greens and the project was given to the Countryside Commission to develop.

Planning the Project
The idea of Millennium Greens was created by the Countryside Commission in 1995, according to Issue 5 of the Millennium Green Newsletter in Spring 1999. They approached the Millennium Commission for grant funding in Feb 1996. The Commission advertised the proposal and organisations throughout England enquired about the grant. The Commission employed a team to meet up with local people and discuss their proposal. They then assisted the local volunteers to create the Trusts for each Green, then to oversee the planning and creation of the Greens.

Promoting the Project
Various efforts were made to promote the project. The Millennium Greens were put onto a series of postage stamps and articles appeared in local and regional press, however, generally, the Millennium Greens Project never gained much national media attention and most people are, to this day, not aware of Millennium Greens unless they are near to one and even those people are often not aware that their local Green is one of hundreds.

Regions of Development
The Countryside Agency was seperated into Regions, such as the South East Region, each with a Director, to administer the setting up of Millennium Greens.

Setting up Trusts
The Countryside Agency was responsible for setting up the Trusts to run each Green, including creating the model Trust Deed upon which each individual Trust's Deed is based.

Finalising the Project
At some point around the turn of the millennium, each piece of land was handed over to the appropriate Trust and an opening event was organised. Each Millennium Green had been given a sum of money to use for this event.

Plans for after the Creation
Originally, it was planned that the Countryside Commission would maintain contact with the Greens and that the Commission would visit 10% of the Greens each year. Unfortunately, the Government decided to amalgamate the Countryside Commision with another body, to create the Countryside Agency, which then amalgamated with yet another organisation to form Natural England, which has never really had an budget to look after Greens, beyond their basic legal responsibilities.