Hackney,
19
July
2017
|
15:22
Europe/London

From snake parks to secret gardens – Hackney scores highest number of green flags

Twenty-three! That is the incredible number of Green Flags that Hackney now boasts, its highest-ever total, thanks to the hard work of the Council’s parks and green spaces team and the local community.

Stonebridge Gardens, known locally as Snake Park, in Haggerston and Kynaston Gardens in Stoke Newington, were the latest recipients on Tuesday of the UK’s top parks and green spaces award.

A recent makeover at Stonebridge Gardens saw the play area and mosaic snake refurbished, and an old piece of tarmac pitch replaced with brand new sports facilities. The park now boasts a games area for football, basketball and three table tennis tables. There is also a new entrance, benches and pathways.

Meanwhile Kynaston Gardens, a small green space in Stoke Newington, has had a new lease of life over the past few years thanks to £80,000 in funding, secured by the parks user group, which has seen the space become a community hub, with local growing projects, a children’s play area and two new painted murals.

The Green Flag Awards mean they are now officially some of the best green spaces in Britain after both earned the national benchmark for the first time, and join 21 other green spaces in Hackney which have kept their Green Flags. Hackney has one of the highest numbers of Green Flag parks in London.

The Council’s green-fingered staff are responsible for managing and maintaining 58 sites across the borough, including major green spaces like Hackney Marshes and Clissold Park.

 

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Transport and Parks
High quality, well maintained green spaces mean so much to all residents and communities. These awards demonstrate the hard work and dedication the Council’s Parks and Green spaces services put in every day to keep our borough green, clean and inviting.
Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Transport and Parks

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme. Each flag is a celebration of the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. The success of the scheme, especially in these challenging times, demonstrates just how much parks matter to people.”

The full list of Hackney’s Green Flag parks is:

Albion Square, N1

Aske Gardens, E8

Butterfield Green, N16

Cassland Road Gardens, E9

Clapton Pond, E5

Clapton Square, E5

Clissold Park, N16

De Beauvoir Square, N1

Hackney Downs, E5

Hackney Marshes, E9

Haggerston Park, E2

Hoxton Square, N1

Kynaston Gardens,

London Fields, E8

Mark Street Gardens, EC2

Millfields Park, E8

Shoreditch Park, N1

Springfield Park, E5

St John's Churchyard Gardens, E5

Stonebridge Gardens, E8

Well Street Common, E9

West Hackney Recreation Ground, N16

Woodberry Downs Park, N4

For more information please visit: www.hackney.gov.uk/parks-list.