Award winning green spaces
Published
Tuesday 22 July, 2025
Updated
Tuesday 22 July, 2025
Swale Borough Council is celebrating after receiving a Green Flag Award for Milton Creek Country Park, Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park and the Faversham Recreation Ground.
The green flag award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team and volunteers that care for them, for visitors and residents alike to enjoy.
Faversham Rec has received the award for the second time thanks to improvements made during the ambitious heritage-led regeneration scheme which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Milton Creek Country Park has received the award, and an impressive 20th year in a row for the Gunpowder Works.
For a green space to receive the award it needs to meet the highest standards in cleanliness, community engagement, conservation, safety, inclusivity and much more.
Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park has also achieved the Green Heritage Site Accreditation, supported by Historic England, for the management and promotion of its historic features.
Cllr Dolley Wooster, chair of the Environment Services and Climate Change Committee, said:
“We are incredibly proud of Swale’s green spaces, and it is fantastic to get the international recognition we know they deserve.
“None of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of our local volunteers who, alongside our officers, work tirelessly to maintain our parks and recreation grounds to the high standard required for Green Flag status.
“These three beautiful parks act as a community hub for people to meet with their friends and families, socialise and keep active while out in nature.
“Oare Gunpowder Works has also been recognised with Green Heritage Site Accreditation which demonstrates its historical importance and how we leverage our green spaces as tools for education.”
Volunteers at the Milton Creek Country Park said:
“The reason that we love going to the park is that we feel lucky to be able to work with other Volunteers under the guidance of the ranger Kristian Staples.
“All the volunteers get along with each other and support each other while we do the rewarding work to keep the park beautiful.
“It's a great feeling when we see the trees developing, especially when families with children have helped with the planting.
“We also enjoy meeting the public as they are on their walks, some of whom like to talk - some just want a chat, others sometimes talk about their problems, and we feel that it helps with their well-being.
“Many express their appreciation for the work we do and how good the park looks.”
Volunteers at the Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park said:
“It is amazing to meet like-minded people, who come from wide range of previous experiences, to enjoy the outdoors.
“We find it therapeutic to work together to keep this important public amenity in good condition.
“There is wide range of ages working with a common purpose who all enjoy the experience and companionship.”
Friends of the Faversham Recreation Ground said:
“Having worked hard each week to keep our Recreation Ground a joy for the people to use, we are really pleased, not only to have been nominated as finalists in the BBC Make a Difference awards, but to yet again have been awarded a Green Flag.
“It makes all the hard work worthwhile when not only the local people, but national award schemes recognise the fruit of our labour.”
Paul Todd MBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, said:
“Congratulations to everyone involved in Milton Creek Country Park, Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park and the Faversham Recreation Ground, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that it achieves the high standards required for the Green Flag Award.
“Quality parks and green spaces like those in Swale make the country a heathier place to live and work in, and a stronger place in which to invest.
“Crucially, these sites across Swale are a vital green space for communities to enjoy nature, and during the ongoing cost of living crisis it is a free and safe space for families to socialise.
“It also provides important opportunities for local people and visitors to reap the physical and mental health benefits of green space.”
The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence 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.
