The Bexley and Bromley Parks among UK's best with 2025 Green Flag Awards
The annual awards, regarded as the international quality benchmark for parks and green spaces, celebrate well-managed, welcoming, and environmentally sustainable outdoor areas.
Among this year's 2,250 UK winners are standout sites in both boroughs, reflecting the hard work of local authorities, volunteers, and community groups.
In Bexley, Lesnes Abbey Wood, managed by Bexley Council, has been awarded the prestigious flag.
Lesnes Abbey Wood (Image: Newsquest)
Bromley also boasts several winners, all managed by idverde for Bromley Council.
These include Biggin Hill Recreation Ground, Cator Park, Chislehurst and Walden Recreation Ground, Darrick and Newstead Wood, Hayes Common, High Elms Country Park, Kelsey Park, Keston Common, Queens Gardens, and South Hill Wood.
Other sites in Bromley have received additional awards.
West Wickham Common, managed by the City of London, has been given the Green Heritage Site Accreditation.
This recognises sites that meet extra criteria and care for, share, and celebrate the heritage of their locations.
The Green Flag Community Award, which recognises quality green spaces managed by voluntary and community groups, has been given to Hoblingwell Wood and Recreation Ground, managed by Friends of Hoblingwell, and Winsford Gardens, supervised by Penge Green Gym.
In Bexley, the Sidcup Place Community Garden has also received the Green Flag Community Award.
The Green Flag Award is managed by Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the scheme, which aims to recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country.
Four parks, which received their first Green Flag Award in 1997, have managed to maintain it every year since.
Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: "We are thrilled to see that an incredible 2,250 sites have met the standards required for a Green Flag Award, reflecting the tireless work of the people tasked with caring for and improving these crucial national assets.
"Our quality parks and green spaces make the UK a healthier place in which to live and work, and a stronger place in which to invest."
She added that the Green Flag Award sets the standard for caring for these sites amidst growing recognition that our green spaces can be part of the solution to climate change.
The charity believes that the standards expected for the Green Flag Award should be a minimum for every park.
They aim for a significant increase in the number of sites achieving Green Flag Award status by 2030, so that people, wherever they live, can access and enjoy safe, high-quality green space.
Erika Diaz Petersen, Historic England's principal national landscape adviser, added: "We congratulate this year's winners for their achievements in reaching Green Flag Award standards for looking after our vital green infrastructure.
"Heritage is at the heart of our green infrastructure networks, from public parks to our canal network, providing crucial benefits for people and nature, and a critical resource for climate resilience."
The Green Flag Award scheme sets the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
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