As the Green Flag Award marks 25 years of excellence, Whaley Bridge's Memorial Park has once again been honoured – one of a record number of 2,127 parks and green spaces to be recognised.

The scheme is managed by Keep Britain Tidy to reward well-managed parks and green spaces which set the benchmark standard across the UK and around the world.

A dedicated Friends group of volunteers work alongside High Peak Borough Council’s parks team and its grounds maintenance partner Alliance Environmental Services (AES) to care for and develop the park.                       

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh, Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Regeneration, Tourism and Leisure, joined some of the Friends at the park to raise the flag.

He said: “We’re delighted that the Memorial Park has retained its Green Flag Award for the seventh successive year. It’s a fitting tribute to our parks team, the Friends and the volunteers who devote their time to keeping the park in peak condition for everyone to enjoy.

“Parks and green spaces play such an important part in our wellbeing and, over the last two years in particular, so many of us have come to value them more than ever as places to relax or move more in beautiful outdoor locations.

“We are committed to protecting and enhancing these special spaces across the High Peak and to have an award-winning Council park on our patch is fantastic. It’s this standard of amenity that, working with communities and volunteers, we are working to replicate in other areas of the Borough.

“I congratulate everyone involved for their dedication and enthusiasm which has, once again, resulted in the Memorial Park being honoured in this way. It’s an achievement we can all be proud of.”

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh and Tref Jones from AES raise this year’s Green Flag at the Memorial Park.

Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making the Memorial Park worthy of a Green Flag Award.

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

The Memorial Park is not the only one in High Peak to receive an award. The Community Orchard in New Mills has received a Community Award Winners Green Flag for the twelfth time.

Councillor Greenhalgh added: “This is a terrific achievement and I also send our congratulations to the Friends of the Orchard, the wider community in New Mills and the Town Council.

“We’ll soon be launching our Parks Strategy setting out our ambitions to see more community-led initiatives such as this established across the Borough so it’s great to have the New Mills example to point to to show what can be achieved. Great job everyone!”

Read more from the Glossop Chronicle

Click here for more of the latest news

Click here to read the latest edition of the paper online

Click here to find out where you can pick up a copy of the paper