Lee Valley Regional Park awarded 10 Green Flag Awards

This marks an impressive 18 year anniversary, with nine vitally important and cherished spaces in Lee Valley Regional Park each holding a Green Flag Award for 18 years. This milestone comes in the same year that the Green Flag Awards celebrates its 30th anniversary.

A tenth Green Flag continues to fly at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the 13th year, this site is jointly managed by The London Legacy Development Corporation and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority’s sites are amongst the 2,391parks and green spaces across the UK which have reached the high standards required to receive a prestigious Green Flag Award, the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

With 3.3 million visits last year alone, Lee Valley Regional Park’s open spaces are a lifeline for communities, providing spaces to exercise, beautiful settings to relax or meet with friends and the chance to reconnect with nature and discover wildlife-rich habitats.

A Green Flag will continue to fly at the following sites across Lee Valley Regional Park:

• Bow Creek Ecology Park in Canning Town, East London

• Gunpowder Park in Waltham Abbey, Essex

• Myddelton House Gardens in Enfield, North London (Green Flag and Green Heritage Site)

• River Lee Country Park in Hertfordshire and Essex

• Rye House Gatehouse in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire

• Tottenham Marshes in North London

• Waltham Abbey Gardens in Waltham Abbey, Essex

• Walthamstow Marshes in East London

• WaterWorks Centre nature reserve in Leyton, East London

• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - The London Legacy Development Corporation and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority

In addition to retaining Green Flag status, Lee Valley Regional Park’s Myddelton House Gardens in Enfield has also achieved the Green Heritage Site Accreditation for the management and promotion of its historic features, supported by Historic England. To achieve Green Heritage Site Accreditation, winners must take action to conserve the heritage value of their site. They also need to help people to understand and enjoy its unique history.

Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive at Lee Valley Regional Park Authority said, “Our parks, heritage sites and open spaces have never been more important. Spread across 10,000 acres, these diverse spaces are integral to the health and wellbeing of the diverse communities we serve.

“This national Green Flag recognition, spanning an incredible 18 years for nine of our sites, is testament to the hard work, passion and commitment of our staff and volunteers, who work tirelessly to ensure that we continue to deliver the highest quality spaces for visitors, while at the same time conserving and enhancing the biodiversity of the Park.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under contract from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

Lee Valley Regional Park’s green spaces are free to visit throughout the year, with thousands of acres to explore on foot, by bike or by river.