Green Flag Park Awards for 2000 more than doubled

The number of parks judged good enough to receive one of the prestigious Green Flag Park Awards for the year 2000 has more than doubled. This is only the third year of the Award scheme, which was created by the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] and developed in partnership with the Institute for Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM), English Nature, and the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

Following a rigorous judging process which started in April and finished in July, 35 parks throughout England met the Award criteria to high enough standards to justify an Award. The table shows how many applications were received each year and the number of Awards made.
    The Green Flag Park Award winners are leading the way in reversing the trend of decline in parks and managing their parks in an environmentally sustainable manner. Last year there were 16 winners, the year before only seven. Nearly 500 park authorities have expressed interest in the award, and many of those are working at improving standards to meet the Award criteria in the near future.
    Judging a good park from a bad one may seem easy enough, but judging the best from the good is rather more challenging. Not only are Green Flag Parks judged against 30 complex criteria, but the judges have to balance their subjective views as professionals and as members of the public, with the need for objectivity and endurance in their decisions.
    Among the criteria is a requirement for park managers to demonstrate a commitment to pesticide elimination or minimisation. Where pesticides are used, evidence is sought for employment of best practices to ensure health and environmental  protection.
    Award winning parks also have to demonstrate that their high standards are maintained. Six of the first year winners and nine second year winners have held on to their awards, but some are lost due to a deterioration in standards. But park managers and users are working hard to reach the high standards required to win a Green Flag Park Award. Those that fail to attain an Award one year are advised of their park’s weaknesses and encouraged to apply the next year. Many have done so and gone on to win an Award.
    There are many social, environmental, economic and political benefits to providing good parks. The Green Flag Park Award now exists to make it perfectly clear that it is worth making the effort, and that it can be recognised and rewarded. Staff motivation, public inclusion and innovative ideas can cost a great deal less than unimaginative intensive management regimes. If town halls believe that high quality provision in parks is important it can be achieved.
    Having grown so rapidly, the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] and its partners in the  scheme came to the conclusion earlier this year that it had developed to a point where it needs dedicated management and development, rather than being run as one project of its parent organisations. Following a process of bid presentation and interviews, the Civic Trust was selected by the Steering Group to manage the Green Flag Park Award Scheme from September 1999.
    The Pesticides Trust will continue to play a key role in direction of the Scheme, but we believe that the Civic Trust with its National network and experience in running award programmes will develop the Green Flag Park Awards to their full potential. (MD)

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.45, September 2000, page 16]