Green Flag Awards Success

The Council has once again excelled in the Green Flag Awards, with 23 sites across the Vale awarded the accolade this year

14 October 2020 

We caught up with Jon Greatrex, who leads on the Green Flag Awards work for the Council, to find out more about what's involved in achieving the mark of a top-quality outdoor space.

Hi Jon, firstly congratulations on another excellent year for Green Flag Awards. The Council has retained 10 Green Flag Awards across our parks and supported 13 community spaces in achieving the award as well. How have you managed that in such difficult circumstances?

Thank you. It has been difficult for us and for Keep Wales Tidy who run the awards, we weren't sure if they were going to be able to run them this year but with some adaptations to the way they do the judging, they have been able to do it. 

In terms of the challenges for us as the Parks Department, we had some staff members who were shielding and some staff who were helping out with other jobs, such as the tannoy vehicles that were driven around throughout lockdown. But we've managed to keep on top of the maintenance, despite the circumstances. 

I think the flower beds this year were exceptional, despite the pandemic we've had a fantastic summer. It has been very busy. Once lockdown ended everyday was like a bank holiday, we had so many visitors across all of our sites but the team have been fantastic in keeping on top of everything. 

Open spaces have been vital for people's wellbeing, this year more than ever, is that something that you were mindful of?

Yes, definitely. Unfortunately we did have to close some sites for around 6 weeks during lockdown but our staff were still there keeping up maintenance so as soon as we were allowed to open them again they were ready for people to enjoy. We want people to have a good experience when they visit our parks and want to come again so it was really important for us to keep going. 

We had to be mindful of our staff and their health and wellbeing as well, especially those who had been shielding. They really are on the front line and people do go up to them when they're working in the park so we made some adjustments to some shift patterns and made the most of lone working tasks, such as foamstream, which can be carried out by one person. 

What are your plans for the future? Do you think we can improve on 23 awards supported by the Vale of Glamorgan Council? 

Ultimately I'd love to be top of the list in terms of the number of awards. It's a big ask, because it would mean beating Cardiff Council who have more sites than us. But we do have some more community groups who are keen to get involved and who we could support with achieving their own community awards. And there may be one or two more sites in the Vale where we could try and achieve the award. Considering we have a much smaller department than other areas I think we are doing an excellent job already.

One of the positive things to have come out of the pandemic is we have more volunteers and more people who have come forward wanting to get involved which is great.

I have to say to have achieved this, despite the pandemic, this year makes me really proud of all the guys. All of the frontline services have really worked extra hard to get their jobs done in such difficult circumstances. The parks team have been outstanding, considering green flags is just one small part of their job and they all work on lots of other projects across the Vale. The frontline staff who are often unsung heroes just kept going and they have been recognised for their work and should be applauded for that. 

The Green Flag Award programme is delivered in Wales by environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy, with support from Welsh Government.

Independent green space experts volunteered their time in early autumn to judge applicant sites against eight strict criteria, including biodiversity, cleanliness, environmental management, and community involvement.

Lucy Prisk, Green Flag Coordinator at Keep Wales Tidy said: “The pandemic has shown just how important high-quality parks and green spaces are to our communities. For many of us, they have been a haven on our doorstep, benefitting our health and well-being.

“The 224 flags flying this year are a testament to the hard work of staff and volunteers who have maintained excellent standards under the most challenging circumstances. I’d like to congratulate and thank them all for their outstanding commitment.” 

Cllr Peter King, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services and Transport, said: “With local lockdown restrictions in place, our outdoor spaces are more important now than ever before and I’m extremely proud that here in the Vale we have so many top-quality green areas for residents to enjoy. 

“Given our resources compared to other authorities, to gain so many Green Flags is a truly remarkable achievement and testament to the hard work put in by our parks staff. It is their commitment that keeps our green spaces looking fantastic all year around. 

“I would like to add special thanks and congratulations to the volunteer and community groups who have also been recognised for their dedication and ongoing hard work. 

“The standard required to achieve Green Flag status is extremely high and a great deal of effort is put in behind the scenes to ensure residents have so many fantastic outdoor areas to enjoy in the Vale.”