The government will renew the Green Flag Award licence making sure that Britain’s best parks and green spaces will be recognised and rewarded for another 5 years, Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones announced today (23 August 2017).

The minister made his announcement in Rugby, a town that boasts not one but four Green Flag winning parks, many of which were originally derelict sites that have been transformed by the hard work of the community and the local council.

For 20 years, the Green Flag Awards have been recognising the best of outdoors spaces in the UK, allowing visitors to easily find quality parks and other green spaces to enjoy and setting standards for park managers across the country. Many parks have won the award, but winners also include more unusual spaces such as social housing developments, cemeteries, canals, and shopping centres.

The awards are run on behalf of the government by Keep Britain Tidy, an environmental charity that campaigns for people’s right to live and work in a place of which they can be proud.

Parks and Green Spaces Minister, Marcus Jones said:

I am very happy to confirm that the Green Flag Awards will be continuing, championing Britain’s excellent parks and green spaces and the people behind them.

These awards are valuable not least because they reward local authorities and communities for their dedication to the great outdoors – and give locals and tourists an easy way to find quality spaces to get outside, exercise and play

Award winning parks

Centenary Park in Rugby is an example of a leading Green Flag park. The minister met volunteers who had helped turn a neglected allotment into a space for the whole community. The park now boasts a large play area, a games area, a green gym and nature area, including flowers to attract bees and butterflies.

The Newbold on Avon Community Association and Rugby borough council fought hard to secure over £215,000 to transform the neglected land. In addition to a well deserved Green Flag Award, Centenary Park was also named the most improved park by Fields in Trust in 2016 and received an award from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for providing an excellent home for bees and other insect life.

Another Rugby park benefitted from a share of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s £1.5 million to encourage urban communities to turn small, often derelict, pieces of land into ‘Pocket Parks’ for the benefit of all.

Rugby’s Gladstone Green Pocket Park received £10,000 and now contains a vegetable patch for neighbours and a picnic spot to enjoy the produce they’ve grown themselves. This is part of a wider plan to encourage the New Bilton community to grow their own food. Gladstone Green won a Green Flag Community Award in 2017, a special award created to celebrate the hard working volunteers behind the nation’s favourite green spaces.

These are just 2 examples of the almost 1,800 brilliant green spaces in the UK that have been awarded Green Flag status.

Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, Allison Ogden-Newton said:

We welcome the extension to the Green Flag Award licence as we know how important the scheme has been in the renaissance of our parks over the past 20 years.

We are delighted that the announcement is being made in Rugby as they have shown how people benefit from the provision of quality parks and green spaces in particular in encouraging people to live healthier and more active lives.

Parks and Green Spaces Minister, Marcus Jones added:

My visit to Rugby demonstrated how parks and green spaces can breathe life into our towns and cities – contributing to the health and well being of the community.

I am very much looking forward to outlining our future plans to support Britain’s parks in due course.

Further information

The Green Flag Award accreditation scheme is the national quality standard for public green space, used by the vast majority of local authorities and a growing number of communities, universities and social housing providers to maintain and improve the quality of green space.

DCLG has operated the scheme under a concessionary licence to Keep Britain Tidy since 2012 and the current renewal ensures the scheme will continue until 2022. Running the scheme involves no financial investment by government. Any surplus from the fees that are collected is reinvested into the scheme by Keep Britain Tidy.

In 2016, 1797 Green Flag sites existed across the UK as well as 84 sites across 9 other countries which are currently piloting the scheme.

Since 2012 the scheme has been operating pilot schemes across a number of other countries. Currently there are 9 countries involved including Australia, Germany, Finland and the United Arab Emirates. Internationally the scheme is considered a flagship for the management of green spaces.

Phase 1 of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme has scooped the Large Project of the Year award at this year’s NEC awards in London.

The awards were announced at a recent NEC Users’ Group Annual Seminar.

The driving force behind the award winning scheme is a dedicated project team made up of experts from Leeds City Council, Environment Agency, BMMjv (a joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald) and ARUP.

Phase 1 of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme is one of the largest river flood defence projects in the country. Led by Leeds City Council in partnership with the Environment Agency, it aims to provide an increased level of protection against flooding from the River Aire and Hol Beck for 3,500 residential properties and businesses in the city centre. The scheme also includes flood risk reduction at Woodlesford.

One of the key aspects of the scheme is the replacement of Victorian weirs at Crown Point and Knostrop in the city, with innovative moveable weirs, which are being used for the first time as a flood defence in the UK. The new moveable weirs can be lowered in flood conditions to reduce river levels and the threat of flooding. The use of this technology has meant lower flood defence walls elsewhere in the city, to help preserve connectivity with the waterfront.

The floods experienced in December 2015 reinforced just how important this scheme is for the city of Leeds. Widespread flooding from some of the highest river levels ever recorded affected more than 2,000 residential properties and nearly 600 businesses.

The scheme was recognised for its ‘one team’ ethos with members of all partner organisations working side by side on a daily basis. This collaborative approach between client, contractor and consultant puts the project at the forefront of contract management, resulting in a project which is on programme and within budget despite being affected by some of the worst flooding Leeds has experienced.

The NEC Awards recognise excellence in project delivery and showcase examples of good practice through collaboration from across the world.

The site works for Phase 1 of the Leeds Flood Alleviation scheme started in January 2015 and are scheduled to be completed this September.

The project team is currently working on options for Phase 2 of the scheme, which will adopt a catchment-wide approach meaning the entire River Aire catchment area will be considered to help reduce flood risk in Leeds. Consultation on potential options is due to be carried out from September.

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for waste operations, mining waste operations, installations, water discharge and groundwater activities. The arrangements are explained in its Public Participation Statement

These notices explain:

• what the application is about

• which Environment Agency office you can visit to see the application documents on the public register

• when you need to comment by

The Environment Agency will decide:

• whether to grant or refuse the application

• what conditions to include in the permit (if granted)

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for waste operations, mining waste operations, installations, water discharge and groundwater activities. The arrangements are explained in its Public Participation Statement

These notices explain:

• what the application is about
• where you can visit to see the application documents
• when you need to comment by

The Environment Agency will decide:

• whether to grant or refuse the application
• what conditions to include in the permit (if granted)

Agencies that regulate Third Energy’s oil and gas activities are hosting a drop-in event in Kirby Misperton to explain how they are working together to protect the community and the environment.

The Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Oil and Gas Authority, Public Health England and Ryedale Borough Council are hosting the event at Kirby Misperton Village Hall on Thursday 7 September.

These agencies work together to assess the impacts of the oil and gas industry, to oversee industry operations, and to ensure that any exploration and development, including fracking, is done in a way that does not put people or the environment at risk of harm.

The drop-in session will give local people a chance to talk to agency staff on a one-to-one basis to find out about agencies’ roles and to hear more about the plans that have been put in place since permissions have been granted, along with what will be done in the coming months to regulate site activities.

Everyone is welcome to attend at any time between 2pm and 7pm.