Cheshire East scoops top parks awards

Parks and green spaces across the country are raising their Green Flag Awards with pride as people continue to enjoy outdoor spaces in the autumn months.

In a record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award, as the scheme marks its Silver Jubilee, parks in the borough have enjoyed great success.

The parks celebrating the awards are: Queens Park in Crewe, Congleton Park, Sandbach Park, Fountain Fields in Middlewich, Bollington Recreation Ground, The Moor in Knutsford, Tegg’s Nose Country Park, near Macclesfield, Brereton Heath Local Nature Reserve and Milton Park in Alsager. Tatton Park near Knutsford also received the international mark of accreditation.

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for their management across the United Kingdom and around the world. It is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

Along with Queens Park in Crewe and Congleton Park, Tatton Park also achieved the much-coveted Green Heritage Site Accreditation for management of its historic features. The accreditation is supported by Historic England.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council’s environment and communities committee, said: “The Green Flag Awards represent the very pinnacle of how we celebrate our outdoor spaces. Winning these awards is recognition of how partnership working can make such a difference as it simply wouldn’t be possible to achieve without the commitment of so many amazing volunteer groups. 

“Now more than ever, the enormous social and community value they provide to many people is critical to our physical and mental wellbeing. 

“Good parks also have hugely positive impacts both in terms of our commitment to climate change and the increased biodiversity they provide. These beautiful spaces are there for us all to enjoy and I would urge all our residents to continue to do so. They are award-winning!”

Commenting on Cheshire East’s success, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making their parks 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 high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management in providing places that support people to live healthy lives.”