The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. It is open to any freely accessible park or green space but it is not awarded lightly. The award scheme began in 1996 as a means of recognising and rewarding the best green spaces in the country with high environmental standards, creating a benchmark of excellence in recreational green areas.
Winning a Green Flag Award means that a site flying a Green Flag is a high quality green space. All green spaces are different and this diversity is welcomed so each site is judged on its own merits and suitability to the community it serves.
Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Green Flag status. Throughout the land the owners, managers and staff of many parks and green spaces work tirelessly to ensure their application for the prestigious Green Flag Award is successful. The number of applicants increases year after year and, with this increasing interest in the scheme, it is clear the Green Flag Award scheme is a resounding success.
There has recently been much discussion about the declining quality of some city parks and lack of focus upon rural green spaces. While this is undoubtedly a cause for concern in many places there are also many examples of thriving, popular sites run by dedicated, enthusiastic people working closely with their local communities. Horsham Park is a shining examples of outstanding green space management, and this shows the way forward. The application for the Green Flag Award Scheme had to be made by the District Council as they manage the Park but they need community groups, such as the Friends of Horsham Park to support the application. We can now fly the Green Flag for a year before re-applying to retain the award.
NURSERY SITE
West Sussec County Council have demolished th
e old children’s nursery buildings (seen here on left) and restored the area to the Park (on right). Once the job was started it was all done very quickly and efficiently by a 'deconstruction' contractor . They have undertaken to do this work so that the area can be restored to parkland. It is over 60 years since the area was requisitioned.Jubilee Entrance
There is now some uncertainty about the changes which were to have been made to the Jubilee entrance to the Park (near Superbowl and Park Surgery). These were to have taken place at the same time as structural changes to the Superbowl. The Friends were not happy about the Superbowl planning application but agree that improvements are needed to the car parking area. It has been said that this will become a public pay and display car park for general Park users instead of being dedicated to the Superbowl. The controversial metal tree structure which had been suggested for the Jubilee entrance to the Park will be located temporarily in the Hurst Road car park.
The Park Management Plan is now being implemented. New fencing around the tennis courts has been erected and other improvements in the area are in hand. The District Council are working ot suitable signs which will help cyclists to understand where they can and cannot cycle. The Friends group expressed concern about cycling when the Draft Management Plan was out for consultation. However, the Council have decided on generally allowing cycling with some areas of prohibition. We will be interested to see how this works out in practice and if the necessary signs will lead to further ‘urbanisation’ of the Park.
Hand in hand with the implementation of the Management Plan go the changes to the Bye-laws for the Park. As it happens Government are encouraging all local authorities to review all their bye-laws and new models have been issued. The Friends have not (yet) been consulted on the details proposed for the Park.
AMAZING
We are pleased to report that there has been no recent vandalism in the maze. There is no knowing whether this is because the novelty has worn off or because of the colder weather and darker evenings.
THE FORMER PUTTING GREEN
Vistors to the Park may have noticed that some topsoil has been dumped in the former putting green. The soil will be used to introduce some minor landscaping. There have been some different ideas about what should happen to this area. The Friends sought to keep it ‘natural’. Initially the Parks Department prepared plans for a hard-landscaped ‘amphitheatre’ but have since agreed that any changes should be less ambitious. Meanwhile the Horsham in Bloom group have put forward ideas for planting. Definately a case of “watch this space”. Meanwhile temporary fencing is being erected to keep the area dog-free and signs to this effect have been put up.
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