By Gemma Gradwell
Nearly 50 parks and green spaces across Kent have been recognised as some of the best-kept outdoor spaces in the country.
This year, 49 parks in the county have received Green Flag Awards – up from 45 last year.
The list includes a shopping centre, a former gunpowder factory site and a nature reserve made from the disposal of the Channel Tunnel spoil.
The awards, given out by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, recognise well-managed parks and green spaces.
Five parks – The Great Lines Heritage Park, Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park, Dunorlan Park, Grosvenor and Hilbert Park and Ellington Park – were also awarded Green Heritage Site Accreditation.
To achieve Green Heritage Site Accreditation, winners have to understand and take action to conserve the heritage value of their site. They also need to help people to understand and enjoy its unique history.
In addition, two parks kept their Green Flag Community Awards, which recognise how sites encompass the local and wider community.
These are Bearsted Woodlands Trust near Maidstone and Hythe Green.
The county’s 49 Green Flag parks are among 190 across the South East to be awarded this year.
Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “We are thrilled to see that an incredible 190 sites in the South East have met the standards required for a Green Flag Award, reflecting the tireless work of the people tasked with caring for and improving these crucial national assets.
“Our quality parks and green spaces make the UK a heathier place in which to live and work, and a stronger place in which to invest.
“Through the Green Flag Award and our campaigning as a charity, we will continue to advocate for good quality green infrastructure that maximises benefits for people and nature, whether that’s through exercise and wellbeing, or playing a part in helping us mitigate and adapt to some of the effects of our changing climate.
“The Green Flag Award sets the standard for caring for these sites amid growing recognition that our green spaces can be part of the climate solution.
“We know that the plants and trees in parks help to mitigate the harmful carbon emissions that are driving climate change.
“They act as cooling havens as we face hotter, drier summers and play an important part in climate change adaptation and mitigation, including helping to reduce incidences of flooding.”
Victoria Park – Ashford
Reculver Country Park – Herne Bay
Westgate Parks – Canterbury
Gorrell Valley Nature Reserve formerly Duncan Down – Whitstable
Kearsney Abbey and Russell Gardens – Dover
Samphire Hoe – Dover
Kingsnorth Gardens – Folkestone
Lower Leas Coastal Park – Folkestone
Radnor Park – Folkestone
Royal Military Canal – Hythe
Brockhill Country Park – Hythe
Grove Ferry Picnic Site – Canterbury
Lullingstone Country Park – Eynsford
Manor Park Country Park – West Malling
Pegwell Bay Country Park – Sandwich
Shorne Woods Country Park – Gravesend
Teston Bridge Country Park – Maidstone
Trosley Country Park – Gravesend
Brenchley Gardens – Maidstone
Clare Park – Maidstone
Cobtree Manor Park – Aylesford
Mote Park – Maidstone
Whatman Park (Millennium River Park) – Maidstone
Broomhill Park – Rochester
Capstone Farm Country Park – Chatham
Gillingham Park – Gillingham
Hillyfields Community Park – Gillingham
Riverside Country Park – Gillingham
The Great Lines Heritage Park: Field of Fire – Gillingham *also Green Heritage Site Accreditation
The Vines Gardens – Rochester
Ranscombe Farm Reserve – Rochester
Bluewater Shopping Centre – Dartford
The Vine – Sevenoaks
Faversham Recreation Ground – Faversham
Milton Creek Country Park – Sittingbourne
Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park – Faversham *also Green Heritage Site Accreditation
Elephant Park – Swanley Town Council
St Mary’s Recreation Ground – Bexley
Swanley Park – Swanley
Ellington Park – Ramsgate *also Green Heritage Site Accreditation
Fort Burgoyne – Dover
Haysden Country Park – Tonbridge
Leybourne Lakes Country Park – Snodland
Tonbridge Racecourse Sportsground – Tonbridge
Dunorlan Park – Tunbridge Wells *also Green Heritage Site Accreditation
Grosvenor and Hilbert Park – Tunbridge Wells *also Green Heritage Site Accreditation
St John’s Recreation Ground – Tunbridge Wells
The Grove – Tunbridge Wells
Woodbury Park Cemetery – Tunbridge Wells
Green Flag Community Award:
Bearsted Woodland Trust
Hythe Green
