Award-winning parks
Green Flag Award
The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. The scheme recognises the best green spaces in the country while rewarding excellent standards of park management. It is also seen as a way of encouraging others to achieve the same high environmental standards, creating a benchmark of excellence. Any public park or green space that is free to enter can apply for a Green Flag Award.
Parks and green spaces must apply and are judged each year to assess whether they keep their Green Flag Award. Winners are usually announced in the summer. Green Flag Award judges assess parks and open spaces against the following criteria:
- A welcoming place
- Healthy, safe and secure
- Well maintained and clean
- Sustainability
- Conservation and heritage
- Community involvement
- Marketing
- Management
The awards rely on partnership working between us, town and parish councils and the local community, through friends groups, to maintain high standards in our parks. Visit the Green Flag Award website for further details.
Dacorum has seven Green Flag parks. Sunnyside Rural Trust has one and we manage the remainder:
Bunkers Park, Hemel Hempstead
Over the past two decades, Bunkers Park has developed into a mosaic of habitats, including new woodlands, wildflower meadows and a pond, benefiting local residents and wildlife alike. Development of the site is as a result of the partnership between our Environmental Services team, Nash Mills Parish Council and the Friends of Bunkers Park (FoBP). Volunteers from FoBP spend hundreds of hours every year completing practical tasks under the guidance of our officers, and truly engender the spirit of community ownership.
Canal Fields, Berkhamsted
Canal Fields is a very attractive green space in close proximity to the River Bulbourne and Grand Union Canal. The site has a range of facilities, including a picnic area, playground and skate park and also includes biodiversity areas such as the Millennium Garden. Canal Fields also has a Friends of Canal Fields group. For more info, visit the Canal Fields page.
Chipperfield Common, Chipperfield
Chipperfield Common is mostly made up of woodland and is rich in biodiversity. It has many features, including ponds, Bronze Age burial mounds and ancient trees, as well as a network of footpaths and bridleways for visitors. Chipperfield Common also has a Friends of Chipperfield Common group, who work in cooperation with us to maintain the Common for the wider community.
Gadebridge Park, Hemel Hempstead
Gadebridge Park is on the northern edge of Hemel Hempstead and is Dacorum's principal park. It is split into two main areas, separated by the Leighton Buzzard Road and the River Gade, with a total area of about 32 hectares, eight of which are dedicated to pollinators and biodiversity.
It features a historic walled garden, splash park, skate park, playground, outdoor gym, bowling green and picnic area.
Find out more about the history of Gadebridge Park.
Tring Memorial Garden
Tring Memorial Garden is situated just off Tring High Street. In the 1950s, the land was turned into a memorial garden for those who had lost their lives in the Second World War. The Memorial Garden underwent improvement works in 2011, including extensive tree work, pond improvements, plus the inclusion of a fountain and a variety of flowers. The site now provides a green area in a built-up environment. The area is used for informal recreation, dog walking and as an area for remembrance.
Water Gardens, Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead’s historic new town park received its first Green Flag in 2018 following a £3.6m restoration funded by ourselves and the Heritage Lottery Fund/Big Lottery Fund.
Designed by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe in the 1950s, the park features a new community building and garden, an exciting play area specially created for the Gardens based on Jellicoe’s serpent theme, a flower garden with a colourful planting scheme, and an opportunity to enjoy wildlife and nature along the watercourse.
The Water Gardens reopened in 2017 and received the Heritage and Conservation Landscape Institute Award for, “the preservation and comprehensive restoration of a significant mid-20th century design" in recognition of the outstanding restoration. The Friends of Jellicoe Water Gardens formed in 2013 to support the restoration project and now organise a programme of activities, including bat walks, children’s crafts and caring for the community garden.
For more information, and to find out how you can get involved in events, activities and the Friends of the Jellicoe Water Gardens, please visit our Jellicoe Water Gardens page.
Queen Elizabeth II Fields
The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge, run by Fields in Trust, was set up to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. It aims to protect a diverse range of outdoor spaces across the UK to ensure they remain a permanent legacy guaranteed for future generations to enjoy.
Dacorum has two Queen Elizabeth II Fields:
These sites are two of only 2,012 QEII Fields across the UK and will now be protected as green spaces forever. They will also be eligible for improvement funds restricted to Queen Elizabeth II Fields.
Page Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 July 2024 at 11:46 AM