292 Parks and green spaces in the North West, including Tim Parry Recreation Ground in Great Sankey, have reached the high standards required to receive a coveted Green Flag Award as environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy celebrates the 30th anniversary of the scheme.
Sites across Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside are among a record 2,391 UK sites celebrating their achievement, with newcomers including:
• Birches Crematorium & Remembrance Park – All Faiths Remembrance Parks LTD
• Claremont Park – Blackpool Council
• Elizabeth Park – Bolton Council
• The Carrs – Cheshire East Council
• Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Garden – Fylde Borough Council
• Tim Parry Recreation Ground – Great Sankey Parish Council.
Eighteen green spaces, including Hilbre Island Local Nature Reserve managed by Wirral Council, achieved a Green Heritage Award, while 33, including New Ferry Butterfly Park managed by Cheshire Wildlife Trust, were awarded the Green Flag Community Award.
But the announcement comes as startling research by the charity reveals shocking levels of inequality of access to safe, well maintained green spaces, despite the proven benefits of parks and nature to people’s wellbeing and quality of life.
A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 UK adults found stark differences in the quality and safety of local green spaces between the richest and poorest areas in the country, with just 27% of people in the most deprived areas nationally describing their local park as ‘safe’, compared to 46% in the least deprived areas.
Paul Todd MBE, Green Flag Award Manager at Keep Britain Tidy, said: “Parks are essential public spaces that support our wellbeing, our communities and our economy. Yet for millions of people, particularly in the most deprived areas, local parks simply don’t feel safe or welcoming.
“In an age of rising concern about community cohesion, young people’s wellbeing and time spent online, safe local parks are becoming more important than ever. Yet the communities who need them the most are sadly the least likely to have them.
“With public services under pressure, investing in parks is not a luxury, it’s a practical, preventative solution and one of the most visible ways councils can improve people’s quality of life.
“Every pound invested in a park, particularly in a deprived community, delivers real returns – improving wellbeing, bringing communities together, reducing loneliness, giving people somewhere safe and free to spend time and, ultimately, reducing pressure on public services like the NHS.
“Today’s Green Flag Award winners show what can be achieved when parks are properly supported and managed. As we celebrate 30 years of the Green Flag Award, we want every community to have access to green spaces that are safe, welcoming and maintained to the highest standards.”
The Green Flag Award is the international benchmark for quality, recognising sites that meet rigorous standards for safety, accessibility, environmental management and community engagement.
Keep Britain Tidy is calling on local authorities to prioritise investment in parks in areas of greatest deprivation and to use the Green Flag Award as a benchmark standard to drive improvement.
A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available here.
