Flying the flag for outdoor spaces
A ceremony was held to celebrate Newark and Sherwood receiving six Green Flag awards.
The scheme recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the UK.
The places awarded a Green Flag in the district this year were: Newark Castle Gardens; Sconce and Devon Park, Newark; Newark Cemetery; Sherwood Avenue Park, Newark; Sherwood Heath Cockglode and Rotary Woods, Ollerton, and Vicar Water Country Park, Clipstone.
Representatives of each attended the ceremony at Sconce and Devon Park.
There was an introduction from Mr Phil Beard, the district council’s business manager for parks, before a speech by the council’s vice-chairman, Mr Bob Crowe, and the presentation of the flags.
Mr Beard said: "It is brilliant for the district to be awarded six flags, and it is particularly special for a town the size of Newark to have four of those.
"I don’t think any other town the size of Newark has as many flags, and it is brilliant to see the hard work that goes into keeping these spaces nice is being recognised.
"It means right across the district we have open spaces that are attractive, safe, and take measures to protect wildlife.
"The use of open spaces and nature is proven to be beneficial for both physical and mental health and to have so many Green Flag sites is a benefit to the district for the people who live here and tourists who visit."
He said the number of flag sites in the district fitted with the Advertiser-backed council campaign to make the district a Cleaner, Safer and Greener place to live, work and visit.
The campaign is leading action on issues ranging from street litter, dog fouling and anti-social behaviour, to recycling and refuse collection.
Mr Crowe said: "It makes me proud to be part of a district with so many Green Flag sites and this helps so much towards strengthening the new campaign.
"It is worth giving a special mention to the volunteers who work so hard to keep their parks, spaces and cemeteries clean, because this wouldn’t happen without them."
Newark town councillor and a member the Friends of Newark Cemetery Mr Roy Williams said: "Thanks must go to the cemetery staff for all their hard work in keeping it the best it can be.
"At long last people are recognising the work that is put in for not only our local graves, the Commonwealth and Polish graves too.
"What people suggest they would like to see in the cemetery we try to get done and listen to the people who care."
The Green Flag scheme started in 1997.
Now Green Flags fly over almost 2,000 spaces across the UK.
In 2008, the scheme started to expand through pilot studies into countries outside the UK, with Green Flag sites also in countries including the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Australia and Turkey.
