[Photo: Councillor Liz Hardman, Council Chair (middle) and the Mayor of Bath, Councillor Professor Bharat Pankhania (middle right) with members of the council’s Parks team and Haycombe Cemetery team at the national Green Flag Awards ceremony on July 17.]
Bath & North East Somerset Council is celebrating once again winning six prestigious Green Flag Awards at the national ceremony held in our city.
Judges visited Bloomfield Green, Hedgemead Park, Henrietta Park, Royal Victoria Park and Sydney Gardens earlier this year and declared they met the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.
Haycombe Cemetery was also awarded the status after being assessed via a ‘mystery shop’ by the judges.
Meeting the Green Flag Award standards is a testament to the hard work and dedication of those who care for the green space so that visitors and residents can enjoy them.
It’s the third year running that the six green spaces in Bath, managed by Bath & North East Somerset Council, have received an award.
The national Green Flag Award ceremony took place at the Apex Hotel in Bath and was attended by representatives of the council alongside the Mayor of Bath, Friends of Parks group members, Your Park and Bath in Bloom.
Councillor Sarah Warren, Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Bath and North East Somerset, said: “We know our residents value our green havens, which provide us all with places to relax and enjoy the outdoors. We are committed to continuing to invest in our parks and green spaces to ensure they are welcoming and well-managed for both people and nature.
“The support of Friends groups and many other volunteers is vital to the ongoing success of our beautiful parks. Thank you to our Parks team, our cemetery grounds team and to everyone involved in once again securing these prestigious awards.”
The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
Find a park or green space in Bath and North East Somerset and a Friends of Parks group on the council website.
Find out more about the council’s burials, cremations and memorials services.
Shame on Council regarding Locksbrook Cemetery they have closed the gates so we can no longer drive in. My father paid the ultimate sacrifice and is in a Commonwealth War Grave, a period of 83 years. My Mother visited every week till her own death and her ashes are interred with Dad. I now visit regularly to tidy the grave and drove in with no problems. So now we have to try and find a parking place which is very difficult in the adjacent roads. It is a real shame on the Council making it difficult to visit our departed parents after 83 years of access,
Thank you, Richard.
At the Green Flag presentations, I had the opportunity to meet with the visionary behind the Green Flag Project, as well as a group of dedicated and insightful professionals from the Ministry of Housing.
We were all in strong agreement that we need more than just the bare minimum when it comes to housing and property development.
Green spaces should not be an afterthought; they must be an essential, integral part of any development plan.
Large, accessible green areas must be incorporated in all housing projects—not only to meet basic functional needs, but to ensure we are creating environments where communities can thrive, feel connected to nature, and enjoy the benefits of outdoor spaces for years to come.
We need more, not the at present, permitted bare minimum.
Bharat Pankhania