An incredible six parks the length and breadth of the borough have been named amongst the country’s best open spaces.
Ravenscourt Park, Frank Banfield Park and Margravine Cemetery have been awarded with Green Flag status for the third year in a row. Normand Park has won the coveted honour for the second year while St Peter’s Square in Hammersmith and Little Wormwoods Scrubs have collected Green Flag Awards for the first time.
The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and is managed by Keep Britain Tidy. Hammersmith and Fulham Council has pumped more than £6 million into its many picturesque parks and open spaces and these awards recognise the council’s commitment to ensuring its parks have excellent facilities and are maintained to the highest standard possible all year round.
In addition, Loris Gardens and Godolphin Road Community Gardens have retained their Green Pennant Awards which recognise high quality green spaces that are managed by voluntary and community groups. Both of these gardens have been managed by the Hammersmith Community Gardens Association.
“This is excellent news for Hammersmith & Fulham residents. Providing top quality, beautiful parks and open spaces is one of this council’s number one priorities and we are delighted to have won six Green Flags when back in 2009 we did not have any. I am particularly pleased that St Peter’s Square in Hammersmith and Little Wormwoods Scrubs can now be added to our Green Flag stable.”
To win these Green Flag Awards, the council had to present a management plan to demonstrate that each park is welcoming, healthy, safe, clean and well-maintained. In addition, the council had to prove that management of each site is carried out in an environmentally sound manner, with conservation of natural features, wildlife and historic buildings.
Most importantly, the council had to demonstrate how residents are involved in their local park. Hammersmith & Fulham has been instrumental in establishing ‘Friends of’ groups which enable local residents to sustain and enhance their park as a place of natural beauty and public pleasure in partnership with local authorities.
The borough’s many parks and open spaces have been looking even more pristine since the council teamed up with award-winning grounds maintenance experts Quadron Services in May 2008. Quadron has a proven track record in delivering improvements to parks, open spaces and housing areas throughout the country.
St Peter’s Square in Hammersmith is one of the smallest open spaces in the borough. Local resident Oliver Leigh-Wood said: “I am delighted that we have won a Green Flag Award but it is very important that the public realise that we all have an obligation to protect our parks and open spaces. Our council tax goes towards looking after the parks but it would be very helpful if more people would volunteer in the ethos of the Big Society and help maintain them. Most parks in the borough now have a Friends group but they are all looking for more volunteers.”
Little Wormwood Scrubs, behind Sutton Way and Mitre Way, belongs to Hammersmith & Fulham Council but the park is used mostly by residents who live over the border in Kensington and Chelsea. As a result, Kensington and Chelsea Council maintain the park under a 20-year agreement.
Councillor Nick Paget-Brown, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cabinet Member for Environment said:
“It is great news that Little Wormwood Scrubs has won a Green Flag. We have been working closely with the Mayor of London and Hammersmith & Fulham Council to offer residents of both boroughs a great local park.”
Normand Park reopened in July 2008 following £3 million of improvements from the council, neighbourhood regeneration programme North Fulham New Deal for Communities (NDC) and Arts Council England. The park features a larger and improved play area with outside table tennis tables, climbing walls, ball games area, wildflower planting, sand pit, and an informal play area with grass, trees and balancing beams. There is also a BMX practice area and a community garden area.
Leslie Thomas, Treasurer of the Friends of Normand Park said:
“I am so happy with this news. We really do love our park and it is the hub of our community. To have won another Green Flag award means that we are continuing to maintain the park to very high standards.”
Margravine Cemetery in Barons Court has long been regarded as one of the borough’s most beautiful open spaces. This Cemetery was opened in 1869 and over 83,000 burials have taken place since then. In present times, the position of the Cemetery means it has become a busy thoroughfare from Barons Court Tube to Charing Cross Hospital, and has a very active Friends Group. The cemetery’s rich variety of trees attracts at least 25 species of bird, including the great spotted woodpecker, the long tailed tit and the goldfinch.
Frank Banfield Park in Hammersmith has also seen major improvements recently and was officially reopened in October 2008. It now features a brand new children's play area, attractive new landscaping, improved railings and gates and new benches.
The Hammersmith park, a popular cut-through for residents and workers, is named after a former Mayor and Alderman of the borough.
Ravenscourt Park in the heart of Hammersmith is a scenic green space with tennis courts, basketball court, bowling green, lake and a café. Beyond the café and by the entrance to Paddenswick Road a beautiful walled rose garden is tucked away.
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