Six West Suffolk parks and open spaces win prestigious national Green Flag awards

Six of West Suffolk Council’s parks and open spaces have won prestigious national Green Flag awards.

This is in a record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award, as the scheme marks its Silver Jubilee, and West Suffolk’s parks are six of 2127 celebrating success today nationwide.

The award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces. This is the second year that West Suffolk Council has celebrated all six of these parks and open spaces winning the award and the Council has had at least one Green Flag every year for the last 12 years.

The six West Suffolk parks that have been awarded a Green Flag this year are:

  • Abbey Gardens
  • Nowton Park
  • Brandon Country Park
  • East Town Park
  • West Stow Country Park
  • Aspal Close

This follows the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds being rated the fifth top free attraction visited in the country.

Parks and open spaces play a vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors as well as protecting the local heritage and environment.

West Suffolk Council’s parks and open spaces joins parks and green spaces as diverse as the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Woodhouse Park in Peterlee and Chiswick Old Cemetery in London.

Cllr John Griffiths, Leader of West Suffolk Council, said: “We are very pleased to be awarded, once again, Green Flag status for all our parks and open spaces. West Suffolk Council sees parks and open spaces as not only vital in supporting the health and wellbeing of our residents and visitors but also important in protecting our environment. For example, this year we have introduced new meadow flowers within the labyrinth at the Abbey Gardens and plants across all our parks to attract pollinators. They also support the local economy when people visit them and use nearby businesses too. We would like to thank everyone who helps supports our parks, including our visitors, volunteers and partners and make sure they stay open for everyone to enjoy.”

Commenting on the news that West Suffolk Council has achieved the Green Flag Award standards for its parks, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making these parks and open spaces worthy of a Green Flag Award.”

“To meet the requirements demanded by the scheme is testament to the hard work of the staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that these areas have high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management and is a place that supports people to live healthy lives.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 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.

In celebration of this year’s announcement, Green Flag Award is asking buildings and monuments around the UK to #GoGreenForParks today to show appreciation for the spaces that mean so much to people.