North Tyneside Council is celebrating the news that seven of its parks have retained their Green Flag Award status.
Benton Quarry Park, Killingworth Lakeside Park, Northumberland Park, Marden Quarry Park, Wallsend Parks, and the Rising Sun Country Park have again been recognised as being among the nation's finest parks and green spaces.
The Friends of Brierdene also won a Green Flag Community Award for their efforts to restore and improve the biodiversity of the Brierdene green space, in Whitley Bay.
The awards are presented every year by the environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy, and set the benchmark standard for how outdoor spaces are managed across the UK.
Judges lavished praise on all seven parks, describing Northumberland Park as ‘a special and unique place’ which is well looked after by the council and volunteers.
Benton Quarry was also lauded as ‘a lovely, tranquil, natural park – a great asset for the local community’, while the Rising Sun Country Park was called ‘a very good facility with great staff - North Tyneside should be proud to have it!’
Welcoming the announcement of the awards, Councillor Carl Johnson, Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, said: “Our award-winning parks have done it again and we couldn’t be more proud.
“It’s a very special achievement to win these Green Flags year after year, and further recognition of all the hard work and dedication that staff and members of the public have put in over the years.
“It’s also a great example of the community and the council working together to maintain incredibly high standards in North Tyneside and I would like to thank everyone who has played a part in this achievement.”
The award provides a timely boost for the New Friends of Northumberland Park who have just launched a fundraising campaign to create The Labyrinth Project, a medieval style hedge maze, which would occupy a space next to King Edward Road.
