The Green Flag Award Advisory Board, established in February 2005, is a stakeholder group set up by and chaired by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) to provide advice to CLG on the delivery and strategic direction of the Green Flag Award Scheme.
The role of the Board is to advise CLG on the development of the Scheme and to bring together the principal stakeholders to discuss its future direction and monitor performance. It also supports CLG in helping to meet its commitment, as part of a new public service agreement target (PSA8), to ensure that the number of local authority areas with at least one Green Flag Award standard space increases to 60% by 2008.
The Board is made up of representatives from CLG, CABE Space, current Green Flag Award sponsors (Countryside Agency, Countryside Council for Wales, English Nature & English Heritage), original founders of the Scheme, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Glendale, Green Flag judges, a Green Flag winning local authority and a Green Pennant winning community group. The Civic Trust as the Scheme delivery agent also attends Board meetings.
The Board meets quarterly and the Secretariat is provided by CLG.
I have been involved in Parks and amenities management and Leisure since 1960. I have held the following post during that time -Park Manager, Director of leisure and Recreation and in the Private Sector an Area Manager for a large amenities management company.
In the context of Green Flag I am a judge, a member of the JAC and a member of the Green Flag Advisory Board.
Rachel is Deputy Director Renewing Neighbourhoods for Communities & Local Government. Her responsibilities include neighbourhood renewal programmes (including NDCs), urban green space policy, sponsorship of Groundwork and CABE Space.
Russell has over 20 years experience of working in the leisure industry in all sectors, and held several senior positions in local government before becoming Head of Parks for a large urban authority in 1993. Russell has expertise in green space and outdoor recreational management and is a CABE Space Strategic Enabler. He believes that quality green space can have a positive impact on the community
Attaining an M.Hort (RHS), Mel has lead several teams to success in Britain and Europe in Bloom. At Nottingham he instigated the Green Flag Programme revitalizing parks utilizing the award as the catalyst and benchmark to raise standards.
At High Peak, he successfully leads a similar programme. Putting the community and horticultural excellence first is his motto leading to success in Britain in Bloom and service improvements.
Pete is the Senior Urban Officer with the Countryside Council for Wales. He started his career with BTCV gaining extensive experience in all aspects of practical countryside management. Following a brief spell in a management consultancy he started with CCW in 1993. He pioneered their wildlife gardening initiative, their accessible natural greenspace toolkit and the introduction of Green Flag into Wales.
Ian has worked primarily in the voluntary sector caring for open spaces in partnership with the public and private sector. Recently, his work has been in green infrastructure and access planning, urban park regeneration, negotiating funding through the regional growth agenda, and delivering quality and access audits for a wide variety of spaces.
He is currently the Access Development Officer for Northamptonshire County Council.
Martin has spent over 40 years in the green space industry, from horticultural apprentice to Head of Service. Martin is convinced of the benefits which green spaces bring to people’s lives, and is a Trustee of the Sensory Trust and Greenspace. He is also the Vice President of Yorkshire Garden Trust and a Green Flag judge.
John is an experienced horticulturalist and has worked and studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Edinburgh and Kew, the National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley and Hyde Hall. He has been a board member of Plant Network, a Trustee of the Kent Gardens Trust and acting Chair of the Great Dixter Trust. John writes and lectures on plants, historic gardens and their management.
Nicola joined CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) in 2003 as part of the CABE Space team, the unit of CABE that champions improvements to urban public spaces in England. Nicola is currently acting head of the standards and best practice team. Her focus is developing practical guidance for both communities and professionals to improve the quality of local spaces. This covers a varied range of topics such as engaging young people, climate change and performance management of parks services through high quality written guidance, toolkits and training. Nicola previously worked for a community regeneration trust and for Groundwork managing community led public space improvement projects. Nicola is a green flag judge and passionate about the contribution parks and green spaces make to the wellbeing of communities. Nicola strongly believes in the ability of the criteria to be used strategically as a management tool across a number of sites, in addition to the benefits of an award scheme.
Lorna is a Landscape Architect, and has worked for English Heritage and within local government. Through her current work with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lorna supports the Green Flag Award scheme as a standard for the future management and maintenance of public parks – a Green Flag Award is now a requirement for those sites which have received lottery funding through the Parks for People programme.
Julia has a background in town planning, having qualified in the 1970s. She worked for a number of years in the Environmental Planning and Land Reclamation section of a large Metropolitan County Council.
Julia became involved in community gardening by chance, after volunteering to help clear a neglected graveyard at a local church in Oldbury, West Midlands. Ten years on, the graveyard is a thriving community garden, winning the Green Pennant Award for the last five years. For the past six years Julia has also been involved as treasurer and trustee for a local community centre project.
Lucy has experience of greenspace management and nature conservation in England and southern Africa. In the 1990s, she set up a community wildlife project in Sheffield, followed by a move into greenspace management and the revival of urban green spaces. Encouraging access to the local natural environment is a key objective of Natural England, and Lucy promotes the Green Flag Award to ensure that this is a quality experience, whilst raising the standard of natural green spaces.
Nick is a co-founder of the Green Flag Award scheme. He is author of various publications and regularly contributes articles to magazines and journals on matters including the environment and social issues. Nick is a member of the Science Council Board, RSA Environmental Awards Forum and is a Director of the Society for the Environment
East Midlands (43)Eastern (32)Greater London (112)North East (31)North West (161)South East (56)South West (42)West Midlands (28)Yorkshire & Humberside (33)Wales (13)Scotland (3)Green Heritage Site Winners (31)Green Pennant Award Winners (77)
