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Wigan Borough Celebrates ‘Green Flag’
Double
Celebrations are underway as two of Wigan
Borough’s parks have been awarded the prestigious Green Flag status.
Pennington Hall Park in Leigh and Alexandra Park in Newtown, Wigan, are
two of the parks named in this year’s Green Flag Awards winners list,
produced by The Civic Trust.
The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces
in England and Wales. The award recognises the best parks and green
spaces in the country and is seen as the benchmark of excellence in
recreational green areas. There was a 27% rise in applications this year
with 872 entrants in total.
Staff from Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust’s Parks Team have worked
tirelessly over the past twelve months to ensure that applications for
both sites were successful.
Each site was judged on a range of criteria including: being a welcome
environment; safe and secure; clean and well maintained. Other elements
such as conservation and heritage, community involvement and
sustainability were also assessed. The award status lasts for twelve
months and must be renewed annually.
Cllr Brian Baldwin, Wigan Council's cabinet member for culture, said:
"I'm delighted to see this well-deserved recognition for two of the
borough's parks. Our parks are much loved by the community and a lot of
hard work has been done to make Alexandra and Pennington places that
residents can enjoy and feel proud of. Hopefully more of our local parks
will reach the standard in future years."
Located about half a mile from the centre of Leigh on St Helens Rd,
Pennington Park contains all of the features expected of an excellent
community park. Facilities include
the recently restored bandstand, tennis courts, basketball courts,
bowling greens, mini football pitch and play equipment. There are spaces
to stroll around and spectacular floral displays to enjoy.
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust Parks Officer, Anne Cockram, said:
“Having the Green Flag Award means so much to everyone involved. We are
proud of Pennington Hall Park and are delighted to achieve this kind of
recognition. The Friends of Pennington Park play a vital role in
developing the park and their help in securing this award was essential;
we will continue to work together to make this a park that everyone can
be proud of.”
Alexandra Park is a traditional park, one mile from Wigan Town centre,
and offers a variety of facilities and activities for the local
community in Newtown. The park has recently been transformed and now
offers a play zone, tennis courts, bowling greens and a revitalised
formal area all supported with new off road parking.
The recent addition of an extreme sports facility has proven popular
with both local young people and those from outside of Wigan Borough.
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trusts Parks Officer, Dave Owen, said: “We are
proud of the significant improvements we have made at Alexandra Park in
recent months and are delighted to achieve this kind of recognition. The
Friends of Alexandra Park are very active and have been vital in
achieving this award. Working together we can ensure this remains a park
for all generations to enjoy.”
Both parks host a variety of events throughout the year as part of the
Trust’s Be Alive programme of activities. Annual highlights include the
‘Party in the Park’ at Alexandra Park and ‘Proms in the Park’ at
Pennington Hall Park. Other activities include traditional brass bands,
Tai Chi, crown green bowls and children’s activities amongst others.
For further information about Pennington Hall Park, the friends group or
to organise a community event, please contact 01942 766708. For further
information about Alexandra Park please contact 01942 488448.
-ends-
NOTES TO EDITORS: For further information on this News Release please
contact Georgina Bentley, Marketing Manager, Wigan Leisure and Culture
Trust on 01942 486930
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