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New Zealand raises the standard

12 March 2018

The New Zealand Recreation Association is excited to announce that 18 NZ parks have been awarded the coveted international Green Flag Award.

The Green Flag Award is the international mark of a quality park or green space, judged by green space-expert volunteers, across eight criteria. These criteria include horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability, community involvement and providing a warm welcome.

In total this year, 18 parks in New Zealand have made the grade to be awarded a Green Flag. We are really proud of the hard work the teams at all of the parks have put in to make this a reality and look forward to celebrating this achievement with our local community.

The Green Flag Award scheme is being piloted in New Zealand by the New Zealand Recreation Association. The scheme was launched in 1996 and is managed in England by Keep Britain Tidy, now flags fly over 1,700 sites across the UK, Republic of Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Karl Nesbitt, Parks and Open Spaces Programme Manager at New Zealand Recreation Association said: “We know the significant contribution that public parks make to healthy lifestyles. If we want liveable cities and thriving communities, then we need to invest in these public spaces and ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to quality parks and green spaces.”

“We are delighted to be celebrating so many winners in New Zealand. When you visit a park and see the Green Flag flying, you know you are in one of the very best green spaces.”

The winning parks are:

Long Bay Regional Park (North East Auckland)
Auckland Domain (Down Town Auckland)
Sanders Reserve (Albany North Shore)
Ambury Regional Park (South West Auckland)
Tawharanui Regional Park (Omaha North East Auckland)
Olympic Park (Auckland)
Parrs Park (West Auckland)
Tapapakanga Regional Park (South East)
Wenderholm Regional Park (Waiwera, North Auckland)
Waikumete Cemetery (West Auckland)
Pukekura Park (New Plymouth)
TECT All Terrain Park (Bay of Plenty)
Parihaka Scenic Reserve (Whangarei)
McLaren Falls Park (Tauranga)
Otari-Wilton's Bush (Wellington
Maunu Cemetery (Whangarei)
Halswell Quarry (Christchurch)
Hamilton Gardens (Hamilton)