Published on 15th October 2021

lake surrounded by trees and shrubs

It's a record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award, as the scheme marks its Silver Jubilee.

Hatherley Park, Montpellier Gardens, Naunton Park, Pittville Park, Springfields Park and Winston Churchill Memorial Gardens are six of 2,127 parks celebrating success.

Cheltenham Borough Council is raising the Green Flag Award for six of the borough’s parks and gardens.

The award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces

After 18 months that have seen our parks and green spaces play a vital role for people through lockdowns as a place to relax, exercise and meet friends and family safely, the news that all these parks have achieved the Green Flag Award is testament to the hard work and dedication of the team that make the green space a great space that everyone can enjoy.

Pittville Park has also retained its Green Heritage Award, supported by Historic England, for the management of its historic features.

Adam Reynolds, green space manager for Cheltenham Borough Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a Green Flag Award once again for so many of our green spaces and to have retained our Green Heritage Award for Pittville Park.

“We know how much quality green spaces matter to residents and visitors, we saw a large increase in the usage of our parks and gardens during the pandemic and this award celebrates the dedication from our volunteers, green space team, UBICO grounds maintenance and cleansing team and many others who work hard to maintain these beautiful areas to such a high standard.’’

Phil Stacey from Friends of Hatherley Park group added: '’Over the past 18 months I feel the public have come to appreciate the benefits of being in green spaces that we have experienced as park volunteers. Therefore as Friends we are delighted that the hard work and commitment of the various groups and their civic partners have been recognised with Green Flags in what has been a difficult year. At Hatherley Park we are particularly appreciative of the recognition as our chair Lorna Robson stands down after 20 years of devoted service. They will be big shoes to fill.'’

Green Flag Award Scheme manager, Paul Todd, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making these parks and gardens worthy of a Green Flag Award.

“To meet the requirements demanded by the scheme is testament to the hard work of the staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that their parks and gardens have high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management and is a place that supports people to live healthy lives.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available here.

To keep up to date with all the latest news about Cheltenham’s parks and gardens visit www.cheltenham.gov.uk/parks.


For press enquiries, contact: [email protected] or 01242 264 231

Notes

The Green Flag Award Scheme is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity. We set the standard for the management of parks and beaches, inspire people to be litter-free, to waste less and live more sustainably. We run campaigns and programmes including the Great British Spring Clean, Eco-Schools, Love Parks, Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag/ Seaside Awards for beaches. To find out more about Keep Britain Tidy, our campaigns and programmes visit www.keepbritaintidy.org.

Any green space that is freely accessible to the public is eligible to enter for a Green Flag Award.  Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Green Flag Award status.  A Green Flag Community Award recognises quality sites managed by voluntary and community groups. Green Heritage Site Accreditation is judged on the treatment of the site’s historic features and the standard of conservation. 

Press enquiries: for Keep Britain Tidy press office Helen Bingham [email protected].