Thirty-four Edinburgh parks and greenspaces have been recognised as among the best in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful.
With the most flags of any Scottish council, Edinburgh is hosting the national Green Flag Awards event at Saughton Park this week. Following its recent major upgrade and restoration, an application for a Green Flag award for Saughton Park is planned for 2020.
Councillor Karen Doran, Vice Convener of Transport and Environment, said: “It’s a great honour to host the Green Flag Awards event at our fabulous Saughton Park, which is looking sensational after its recent multimillion pound restoration, and I’d like to congratulate all the award-winners for their success.
“We’re thrilled that the Capital has again scooped the largest number of green flags of any local authority in Scotland – at 34 flags, that’s very nearly half of all flags awarded nationwide!
“Hats off to our outstanding parks staff for their tireless work to care for Edinburgh’s much-loved parks and greenspaces and huge thanks too to all the dedicated Friends of Parks groups for everything they do.
“By working together with the community, we’re looking after one of Edinburgh’s most treasured assets so that everyone who lives in and visits the city can enjoy the many benefits of our beautiful, tranquil and well-maintained greenspaces.”
Keep Scotland Beautiful Chief Executive Derek Robertson said: “I would like to congratulate the award winning parks from Edinburgh. Receiving this prestigious international benchmark recognises all of the hard work that has gone into maintaining and managing these precious green openspaces.
“Every single one of these parks provides an invaluable service to the local communities that it serves – from creating a safe space to play, to think, to exercise – helping to address many of the health and wellbeing challenges we face as a country.”
Spending time in nature can be good for people’s health and wellbeing, and living in a greener neighbourhood can improve health outcomes. The Green Flag Award recognises the valuable contribution these parks make towards the nation’s well-being.
The award-winning parks are:
- Braidburn Valley Park
- Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park
- Corstorphine Hill
- Craigmillar Castle Park
- Easter Craiglockhart Hill Local Nature Reserve
- Fairmilehead Park
- Ferniehill Community Park
- Ferry Glen & Back Braes
- Figgate Park
- Hailes Quarry Park
- Harrison Park
- Hermitage and Blackford Hill Local Nature
- Hopetoun Crescent Garden
- Inverleith Park
- King George V & Scotland Yard Park
- Lauriston Castle
- Lochend Park
- London Road Gardens
- Morningside Park
- Muir Wood Park
- Pentland Hills Regional Park
- Portobello Community Garden
- Prestonfield Park
- Princes Street Gardens
- Ravelston Woods Local Nature Reserve
- Rosefield Park
- Seven Acres Park
- Spylaw Park
- St Margaret’s Park
- Starbank Park
- Station Road Park
- Victoria Park
The Green Flag Awards
The International Green Flag Award, administered in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful, acts as a benchmark for recreational outdoor space. The award celebrates well maintained parks and greenspaces and supports the opportunities that they provide to enable exercise, improve mental wellbeing and provide safe spaces for play. Almost 2,000 parks across the world have achieved the award.
The Green Flag Award aims
- To ensure that everybody has access to quality green and other open spaces, irrespective of where they live.
- To ensure that these spaces are appropriately managed and meet the needs of the communities that they serve.
- To establish standards of good management, and to promote and share best practice amongst the green space sector.
- To recognise and reward the hard work of managers, staff and volunteers.
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