Green Flag Awards celebrated at special event in St Albans
The award of more than 50 Green Flags to parks and open spaces throughout Hertfordshire was celebrated at an event in St Albans.
Representatives from local authorities, community groups, businesses and ParksHerts - an organisation set up to promote the county’s green spaces - attended the gathering at St Albans Museum + Gallery.
St Albans City and District Council (SADC), which hosted the event, won five Green Flag awards for 2022.
The Green Flag, an international quality mark, was given to Verulamium Park, Clarence Park, Sopwell Nunnery Green Space and Hatfield Road Cemetery.
In addition, Verulamium Park was awarded Green Heritage Site Accreditation for the management of its historic Roman features.
The Green Flag Award scheme is run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
It recognises well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark for green spaces across the United Kingdom and the world.
St Albans Mayor, Councillor Geoff Harrison, welcomed delegates to the event at the Museum + Gallery’s Assembly Room.
Among the speakers were Paul Todd, Keep Britain Tidy’s Accreditation Manager, Heidi Carruthers, of the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and Councillor Anthony Rowlands who was representing Councillor Helen Campbell, Chair of SADC’s Public Realm Committee.
Delegates were later taken on a guided tour of Verulamium Park which has retained its Green Flag and Heritage site awards for the past nine years.
Mayor Harrison said:
During two years of COVID lockdowns, we saw what a vital role our parks and green spaces play in people’s lives.
They provide places to relax, exercise and meet friends and family safely. As a Council, we are delighted to have received five Green Flag awards for our parks and open spaces.
Our priority is to tackle the climate emergency and improve the local environment for our residents. The Green Flags are a demonstration of our commitment to these goals.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Paul Todd said:
I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making Hertfordshire worthy of so many Green Flag Awards.
These are vital green space for the community and the awards are testament to all the hard work of staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award are maintained.
Dave Renouf, Chair of ParksHerts, said:
Winning more than 50 Green Flags is a wonderful achievement by local authorities and community groups across Hertfordshire.
ParksHerts promotes more than 100 flagship parks and open spaces in the county and I urge people to go and explore what we have on offer. There is so much to see and experience.
A list of the record-breaking 2,208 Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces across the UK for 2022 is available here.
For more information about ParksHerts, go to: www.parksherts.co.uk/.
Pictures: top, SADC receives its Green Flag award for Clarence Park, left to right, Nick Sherriff, Green Spaces and Cemeteries Team Leader, Mayor Geoff Harrison, Cllr Josie Madoc, Chair of the Clarence Park Consultative Committee, and Cllr Anthony Rowlands; 2nd top, Cllr Rowlands addresses delegates in the Museum + Gallery’s Assembly Room; 3rd top, Mayor Harrison welcomes delegates; 4th top, Keep Britain Tidy’s Paul Todd makes his speech; bottom, Heidi Carruthers of the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust talks about the Wilder St Albans project. Pictures by Simon Jacobs.
Contact for the media:
John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727-819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.
Note:
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. It sets the standard for the management of parks and beaches, inspires people to be litter-free, to waste less and live more sustainably. It runs campaigns and programmes including the Great British Spring Clean, Eco-Schools, Love Parks, 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, its 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.