Wednesday 18 August 2010

Love Your Cardiff Park

This week is Love Your Parks Week - but which is Cardiff’s most beloved park? Upload your favourite photos to the Cardiff Parks flickr group and join the debate!

Cardiff abounds with green spaces. These treasured parks date back as far as medieval times and are havens for wildlife and people alike. They are an essential part of the city and play a vital role in our everyday lives.

Home to a wide variety of wildlife including woodpeckers, kingfishers, egrets, bats, hedgehogs and squirrels; and host to concerts, festivals, art, sports and picnics – Cardiff’s parks are teaming with life all year round.

Councillor Nigel Howells, Cardiff City Council’s Executive Member for Sport, Leisure & Culture, said: “Cardiff is the greenest city in the UK on a per head of population basis. The Council recognises the important contribution that its parks and green spaces make to the economic, environmental and social well being of the city and is committed to investment in these historic spaces.''

Seven of the city’s parks and green spaces were recently given Green Flag status for their contribution to city life. Rumney Hill Gardens, Bute Park, Roath Park, Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff Bay Barrage, Victoria Park and Grange Gardens were all given the award in recognition of being high-quality, well-managed green spaces that people can visit for free.

Alister Evans, Chair of the Friends of Cemaes Park Association, has been campaigning for around three years for the regeneration of this once derelict open space. He said: “As an LEA Governor for the schools in my area it is important to me to see that ‘my children’ have the opportunity to have fun in their lives and to make memories that will help build the foundation for their future. Open spaces of all types are the lungs of our city.”

Love Your Parks Week is a UK-wide campaign organised by parks charity Green Space. It features hundreds of events, enjoyed by thousands of people. In 2009, the campaign saw a record 600 events take place in UK parks during the week, with over 400,000 people getting out and experiencing all their parks have to offer.

You can find out what’s on in your local park by downloading the Cardiff Council parks event guide

Published: Wales Online, 2 August 2010

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