Rochdale’s greenery in the pink

Councillor Martin Burke, Cabinet member for Internal and Environmental Services at Rochdale Borough Council, Ebony Burke, Amir Khan, Tasleem Khan, Neta Smart and Tony Smart

Rochdale’s town centre parks have been given the official seal of approval at a green flag raising ceremony in the Memorial Gardens.

The town centre sites of Packer Spout Gardens, Broadfield Park and the Memorial Gardens are three of eight green flag parks in the borough, all of which have retained the standard for a second year.

The awards are given to parks that reach the gold standard in a number of areas including management, facilities and community involvement.

The town centre parks have undergone a series of improvements in recent months, including ongoing work to refurbish the Memorial Fountain and the cutting back of some of the trees in the gardens to give clearer views of the Town Hall across the park.

The three parks are now also looked after under one management plan, making it easier to plan events across all three sites.

Councillor Martin Burke, Cabinet Member for Internal and Environmental Services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We’re lucky to have some stunning parks in our borough and it’s a huge achievement to retain such high standards during these challenging times.

“The Friends Groups have made a significant contribution to this success and their achievements are really impressive.”

Neta Smart, Secretary of the Friends of the Town Centre Parks, said: “We’re delighted that the parks have retained their green flag. This is in no small part down to ranger Bob Bevan and his fantastic staff who work hard to keep all three parks beautiful.”

Flag raising ceremonies will be taking place in our other green flag parks in the coming weeks. 

Green flag parks:

Heywood
· Queen’s Park

Middleton · Truffet Park, Langley

· Middleton Cemetery, Boarshaw

Pennines
· Hare Hill Park, Littleborough

· Milnrow Memorial Gardens

Rochdale
· Broadfield Park

· Rochdale Memorial Gardens

· Packer Spout Gardens