Green Flag glory for three Mansfield parks
It has been announced today (17 July) that three of Mansfield's parks have been given the prestigious Green Flag Award.
After rigorous judging in June, Carr Bank Park, Titchfield Park and Peafield Park have been given the national award, which recognises the best parks and green spaces in the country, and is a sign of an excellent, well managed and customer friendly park.
Titchfield Park is a town centre park, with facilities for all age groups including ornamental gardens, Children's play area, multi use games area, pavilion, performance area, Petanque piste and outdoor gym equipment. There has been much community involvement in the development of the park. The Maun Conservation group helps to care for the park and carry out a variety of practical tasks, events and school visits. Two local schools are active in using the park as an outdoor classroom to learn about horticulture, nature and conservation.
Carr Bank Park lies a short walk from the town centre in Mansfield. The historic park has a mix of open grassland with mature trees, woodlands, gardens and rockeries with ornamental features from earlier periods including a Grotto and a Victorian Glasshouse. In May 2012, hundreds turned out to celebrate the official opening of the new £183,000 Edwardian style bandstand. The new bandstand will be used not only for traditional brass band performances, but for drama performances and more contemporary performances.
In 2011 the park had a new war memorial erected, funded through Help for Heroes. This is situated to the bottom end of the park and within the old performance area at the pedestrian entrance of Bath Lane.
The park is also host to three annual family fun days, these are the Easter egg hunt, halloween party and Santa's grotto all run by the Friends of Carr Bank Park group.
Peafield Park is located in the Peafield Estate providing a great resource for local residents and visitors from further afield. It offers a range of facilities for all ages to enjoy including a play area, multi sports pitch, skate park, bike track, wildflower meadow areas, trails and walks, Whinney Hill Woodland and a sensory garden. The Friends of Peafield Park assist in helping to care for the park and last year assisted in planting 5,000 crocus bulbs in the park.
Cllr Philip Shields, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: "I am delighted that three of our parks have been recognised as high-quality green spaces.
"They are a credit to our Parks staff and to the Friends groups who give up their time to care for their local open spaces. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all of their hard work over the last year."
Communities Minister, Andrew Stunell said: "Great parks and green spaces have a huge impact on local communities, providing places to play and relax as well as bringing generations together in a variety of ways. They are fundamental to our quality of life, whether in cities, towns or villages, and the Green Flag Award scheme seeks to help raise the standards of them all. The many excellent stories coming from the scheme prove what communities and volunteers can achieve by working together with professionals in our green spaces. Well done to all those involved in creating these inspirational places for everyone to enjoy."