Strathaven Park voted into UK top ten for fifth year

Keep Scotland Beautiful can confirmed that Strathaven Park in South Lanarkshire has reached the top ten in a nationwide poll of the country’s best green spaces - for the fifth year running.

After expert judges awarded 77 parks in Scotland, and over 2,000 in the UK, the coveted Green Flag Award earlier this year, over 59,000 members of the public have been voting to select which of the Green Flag Award parks they felt were truly the best.

Keep Scotland Beautiful administers the Green Flag Award scheme in Scotland and Strathaven Park has held its Green Flag Award since 2013. Strathaven is the only Scottish park to consistently reach the top ten since 2016. 

UK Top Ten Parks and Green Spaces 2020

• Cassiobury Park, Watford
• Hollycroft Park, Hinckley
• Margam Park, Port Talbot
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
• Strathaven Park, South Lanarkshire
• Telford Town Park, Telford
• University of Essex Wivenhoe Park, Colchester
• Valentines Park, Ilford
• Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets
• Warley Woods, Smethwick

All Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces are entered into the annual People’s Choice Award vote, which every year sees countrywide mass public involvement in voting for the very best.

Cemeteries, universities, shopping centers and community gardens across the United Kingdom all achieved a Green Flag Award in 2020 and a full list of Scotland’s parks can be accessed here.

Jamie Ormiston, Beaches and Parks Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented:

“I would like to congratulate everyone that continues to contribute to the success of Strathaven Park. This award goes a long way in helping to demonstrate how, when working together, councils and communities can help to deliver beautiful outdoor spaces. In fact, some of the best in the UK.

“We are very proud of Scotland’s Green Flag Award parks. These spaces have been more important to us than ever this year as we live through national and local lockdowns. Every single Green Flag Award demonstrates the commitment and effort of everyone involved to protect and improve outdoor spaces across the country, providing cleaner and greener places that are so important to our health and well-being.”

To see how you get can your local park involved in the Green Flag Awards visit: www.greenflagaward.org.