I I £57 million into 48 sites with more allocations yet to come. Valuable and welcome as the Urban Parks Programme is, it will only tackle the backlog in capital expenditure in the elite of historic municipal parks. Although recipients of grant will be expected to have a long term management plan for their sites which aims to secure the benefits of the new investment the UPP is essentially about historic and horticultural excellence. It will not extend to the lesser parks, squares or recreation grounds within our towns and cities which for reason of age, condition or style do not warrant inclusion on the English Heritage Register and which in many respects are the Cinderellas of local government expenditure. Although the timing is coincidental, others in the parks and gardens world have been considering how to redress the decline in both maintenance and usage afflicting these lesser sites tackling the subject from the user, rather than the expert end. The starting point was an award scheme devised by the Pesticides Trust, a charity whose objective is to reduce dependence, worldwide, on pesticides in horticulture, to promote environmentally friendly maintenance in public parks. It was quickly realised that a narrowly based award would not, of itself, say anything about the quality and user friendliness of a park. Under the guidance of a panel of experts from the leisure, horticulture and nature conservation worlds, consulting with over 40 external organisations, a series of criteria were drawn up against which the quality of a park might be judged from a user's point of view. Support funding was received from the DoE Environmental Action Fund and external charities and company sponsors. The result was the announcement of the ILAM (Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management)/Pesticides Trust Green Flag Park Award Scheme early in 1997. The concept is based on the well known Blue Flag Beach Award in which entrants are allowed to fly a blue flag if their beach meets certain standards of water purity, cleanliness and availability of defined facilities. Independent judges regularly monitor the beach; the flag can be withdrawn if standards are not deemed to be met. To qualify for a Green Flag public parks have to show that they have a clear management strategy, including the reduction or elimination of horticultural peat and pesticides; community involvement and support; a recycling policy, and a maintenance plan. The site has to have relevant facilities which are safe, clean, and easily accessible to all sectors of the community, and to be well looked after. The intention is not to create an Identikit public park, but to encourage a constructive management thinking that embraces best environmental practice with community relevance and support. In the first year 300 parks expressed interest. All but thirty dropped out, realising that they could not meet the very stringent standards in time for the ADVERTISEMENTS ({p-l)re% Lath & plaster ~pccialilitli~upplicrlianll'11:ontractorli • Riven laths & battens for tbcl\cpair anllftlaintmanccof • Oak framing & tile pegs 1!,istoricJjuilllingli • Lime putty, mortars, plasters m:etepbone: (01536) 373 (158) & limewash • Horse, Goat & Cow hair • Oak ledged & planked doors MATURELIMEPUTTY • Hand Forged Ironmongery • Rosehead nails LIMEWASHANDCOLOURED Credit cards accepted BRICKWASHES Postal/telephone orders welcome LIMEPLASTERSANDRENDERS For a copy of our price list/ ORDINARYMORTAR catalogue telephone:- I.J.P. Building Conservation POZZOLANICMORTARS 01189 462697 HISTORICALEADPAINTS Wattle & daub TRADITIONASLOFTDISTEMPER 46 summer judging. A panel of volunteer judges drawn from a variety of organisations including the IHBC visited two or three sites each in teams of two. Only seven parks were judged good enough to display a Green Flag. The awards were presented by Michael Meach er MP, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions at a ceremony in Birmingham in September when the minister reaffirmed the government's support for public parks. The winners were: Queens Park, East Ham (Corporation of London) Worden Park, Leyland (South Ribble Borough Council) Hall Place Gardens, Sidcup (London Borough of Bexley) Cockington Park, Paignton (Torbay Borough Council) Battersea Park (London Borough of Wandsworth) Highgate Woods (Corporation of London) Queen Mary Gardens, Truro (Carrick District Council) Standards among the entrants were generally high, but many failed to qualify through failure to attend to detail -dirty toilets, lack of signposting or safety equipment, unkempt borders, vandalised and unwelcoming buildings. In most cases deficiencies can easily be remedied, but they are the kind of small thing which can easily turn a visit to a park into a bad experience. Although in its first year, the scheme has already sharpened thinking about park management. Many of this year's would-be applicants are reviewing their practice with a view to re-entering next summer. Other park managers are seeking to follow suit as there is no doubt that holding a Green Flag will be a prestigious mark of quality. For the judges it has been a salutary experience to look at parks with a critical, customer oriented eye - indeed most can never look at a public park the same way again. Together with the initiative from the Urban Parks Programme it is to be hoped this might represent a turning point in the fortunes of the country's very splendid, but much neglected public parks. Postscript Although the Green Flag Award is about public parks, might the approach of judging facilities from a user point of view have a wider relevance about the way we measure and judge the health of our town and village centres both for residents and tourists? Just a thought. Alan Taylor Context56 December1997
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