City celebrates as parks awarded seven Green Flags

Green Flags will once again be flying in seven Brighton & Hove parks this summer as the council celebrates having some of the finest parks in the country.
Easthill Park, Hove Park, Kipling Gardens, Preston Park, St Ann’s Well Gardens, Stoneham Park and The Level have all been re-awarded prestigious Green Flags for excellence. The national awards, handed out by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, recognise and reward the best parks and green spaces across the country.

Excellent facilities

The Green Flags are given to parks which are well maintained, provide a good community focus  and have excellent facilities.
St Ann’s Well Gardens in Hove flies the flag for the 19th year, while Preston Park, the city’s largest urban park, also celebrates a 19th successive year. Easthill Park in Portslade has picked up its 17th award, Hove Park is celebrating a 15th success while Kipling Gardens in Rottingdean has won its 12th award.
Stoneham Park has picked up its 10th award and The Level is flying a Green Flag for the 6th year running. 

City-wide success

Councillor Anne Pissaridou, chair of Brighton & Hove City Council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “Access to good quality open space is especially important in our densely populated city where many people don’t have private gardens, so it’s fantastic news that we will once again be flying seven Green Flags in parks in Brighton, Hove, Portslade and Rottingdean. It’s a real city-wide success story.
“It’s a fitting tribute to our dedicated staff, Friends groups and volunteers who work tirelessly to make sure that the quality is maintained and our parks and gardens are a pleasure to visit all year round.”
The parks are among a record-breaking number of UK parks and green spaces that have been awarded prestigious Green Flag Awards. 

Fantastic achievement

Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “It’s fantastic that we have more Green Flag Awards in the UK than ever before, joined this year by 126 international winners.
“Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. We congratulate each and every winner on their fantastic achievement.”