Alexandra Park has been awarded 2024 Green Flag status – the seventeenth straight year that the accolade has been achieved.
The Green Flag scheme is run by Keep Britain Tidy and is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces. It recognises the spaces that achieve the highest possible environmental standards and provide an excellent experience for visitors.
Ally Pally’s park has joined parks in countries such as Australia, Mexico and Finland in achieving Green Flag status this year. The Park has also achieved the coveted Green Heritage Site Accreditation, supported by Historic England, which recognises high standards in the management of sites with local or national historic importance.
Alexandra Park was first opened in 1863 and today welcomes over three million visitors each year. The Park is classified as a local nature reserve and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, and is home to over 7,500 trees and 694 species of wildlife. Alongside ongoing maintenance and care, projects completed in the Park in the past 12 months include:
- Traditional hedge laying carried out by volunteers from the Friends of Alexandra Park
- LED lighting replacing existing electric lamps
- Funding secured for solar panels on the sports club
- Volunteers bulb planting and cultivating wild flowers
- Utilising wind power – in the form of Gusty Spinfield, Octopus Energy’s pink turbine – to provide green energy to Ally Pally’s summer season of Park events
- Working with the local community to explore improvements to the Grove area of the Park
Mark Evison, Head of Park and Sustainability at Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust: “We are delighted to retain our Green Flag status. We know how much people love the Park, and how important it is for wildlife here in north London, and we are passionate about providing one of the best green spaces in London. A huge thanks goes to our contractors John O’Connor, who are out in the park every day. And we get massive support from our volunteers, including the brilliant Friends of Alexandra Park.
“As a charity we want to become a sustainable home for culture, leisure and learning. Of course, the Park has a massive role in this, so it has been particularly pleasing to have progressed a number projects this year that have integrated green energy solutions and that will increase our biodiversity in the long term.”
Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd MBE, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Alexandra Palace on achieving a Green Flag Award. Alexandra Palace is a vital green space for communities in London to socialise, enjoy nature, for children to play safely and it provides important opportunities for park users to improve their physical and mental health.
“We know that staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award, everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement. It is important that our free to use spaces are maintained to the Green Flag Award standard, making them accessible for all members of the community while ensuring the environment is protected.”
More information about the Park.
