Green Flags Awarded to Two Brentford Open Spaces
Recognition for Watermans Park and St Paul's Recreation Ground
Cllr Salman Shaheen (Recreation, Public Spaces & Parking), Gaye Galvin (Head of Parks Development and Green Infrastructure), Philip Jones (Friends of Watermans Park), James Buchan (GreenSpace360), Kal Watrobski (Friends of Watermans Park) in Watermans Park after the announcement
July 21, 2023
Two green spaces in Brentford have been awarded Green Flag status by Keep Britain Tidy Trust for the first time.
In the next few weeks, you will see the flags flying high on 6 metre flag polies in Watermans Park and St. Paul’s Recreation Ground.
The Green Flag Award recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
For both parks it reflects the hard work put into the parks by members of the local community and council staff. The winners for the current year were announced on Monday (17 July).
Watermans Park contains landscaped areas with wildflower beds, native shrub and tree planting, pathways, seating, a children’s playground, an adult exercise area, a basketball hoop, table tennis, a public sculpture and social and performance areas. It is cared for with the help of the Friends of Watermans Park.
St Paul’s Recreation Ground is a small square park set a few streets back from the river Thames. The site comprises an area of amenity grassland cut into four quarters by two pathways that form a cross over the site. There are many mature trees on site which line the boundaries and the main path. In the southwest corner of the site there is a playground for younger children and on the southeast corner there is an enclosed dog park area.It is set in a residential area near to St Paul’s Church and St Paul’s Primary School, which means it is well loved by local children and parents. Friends of St Paul's Recreation Ground is a growing group of local residents and park users who contribute to the upkeep of the area.
They join several existing parks in the area which have been given the award including Gunnersbury Park, Gunnersbury Cemetery, Boston Manor Park and Jersey Gardens.
Keep Britian Today is licenced by the government to manage the scheme in the UK and overseas. Over 2,000 parks have Green Flag status which is obtained after ‘secret shoppers’ who are industry professionals inspect those applying for accreditation looking at both the open space itself and the owner’s management plan. Criteria that are used to grant a Green Flag include how welcoming and secure the place is, environmental management including the encouragement of biodiversity and the level of community involvement.
The Green Flag Award Scheme is owned by UK Government “Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government” who licence Keep Britain Tidy to deliver the Scheme in the UK and operate the Scheme overseas.
Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd MBE said, “I would like to congratulate everyone involved on achieving a Green Flag Award.
“All our winners provide vital green space for communities, bring people together and create opportunities to lead healthy lifestyles. The staff and volunteers do so much to ensure these precious parks and green spaces maintain the high standards of the Green Flag Award and everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement.”
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