Councillor John Smith today raised the flag to celebrate a record number of Green Flag Awards for Stockport's parks.
This year the borough received 12 Green Flag Awards, the highest ever, in recognition of the high standard of its parks and open spaces. All of Stockport's submissions for 2009-10 were successful.
Stockport has one of the highest number of Green Flag Award winning parks in Greater Manchester and the North West. The North West region has the highest number of Green Flag parks (225) in the UK.
Five parks and open spaces were entered for the first time, and all were successful, these are:
Adswood Park
Hallam Coronation Gardens
Heaton Norris Park
Oak Meadow Park
Reddish Vale Country Park
In addition, seven parks retained their Green Flags status:
Bredbury Recreation Ground
Brinnington Park
Bruntwood Park
Marple Memorial Park
South Reddish Park
Thornfield Park
Torkington Park
To achieve the Green Flag Award, parks must meet stringent criteria, showing that they are welcoming, safe and well maintained, managed in a sustainable way and have strong involvement from the local community.
Councillor John Smith, Executive Member for Leisure, said: "Winning 12 Green Flags is a great achievement. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for the continuous hard work that goes into maintaining and improving our parks and green spaces, to the highest standard.
"As well as the Council's Parks and Recreation team, many Friends of groups and volunteers have played a vital part in this achievement and continue to do great work in our parks."
For more information on Stockport's parks, visit www.stockport.gov.uk/parks or contact the Parks and Recreation Team on 0845 833 4444.
The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. The award scheme recognises and rewards the best green spaces and encourages others to achieve the same high environmental standards.
The Green Flag Award is funded in England and Wales by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and managed by the consortium which comprises of Keep Britain Tidy, GreenSpace and BTCV.
For more information please contact Catherine Beaumont, Publicity & Communications Co-ordinator (EED), on 0161 218 1706 or email catherine.beaumont@stockport.gov.uk
Above: Councillor John Smith (centre) celebrates with Norman Hudson, Service Director for Regeneration and Leisure (third from left), David Brayshay, Head of Service for Parks, Sport and Recreation (third from right) and a representative from each of the 12 Green Flag awarded parks