Tree-mendous award for West Bromwich park
It has been given a £6 million facelift and now a West Bromwich park has been named as being among the best in the country.
Grade II listed Dartmouth Park, which sits on the doorstep of the town centre, has been awarded the coveted Green Flag award.
To celebrate the Friends of Dartmouth Park group along with councillors held a flag raising ceremony to show off the achievement.
The multi-million revamp project, which began in 2009, included restoring the entrance, main avenue and the war memorial.
It has also seen the construction of a a £900,000 community pavilion and a children's water play area which opened in July 2014.
The scheme was made possible with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Big Lottery Fund and Sandwell Council.
Dartmouth Park along with fellow new award winner Brandhall Road Allotments joined the 11 sites across Sandwell borough which have successfully kept their Green Flag status this year
Carol Hartill, secretary of the Friends of Dartmouth Park, said: "We are delighted Dartmouth Park has achieved the Green Flag, which is very well-deserved after many years working on the restoration project.
"We would like to thank Heritage Lottery Fund, Big Lottery Fund and Sandwell Council for funding this project and it is wonderful to see families using all the new facilities that have been installed as part of the restoration."
Councillor Maria Crompton, Sandwell Council's cabinet member for highways and environment, said: "Our parks and green spaces offer so much to the local community and I am so proud that everyone in Sandwell has at least one Green Flag park in their town."
Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy manages the Green Flag scheme and the awards are judged by an army of more than 700 green space experts, who volunteer their time to visit applicant sites.
They assess them against eight strict criteria, including horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability and community involvement.
Across the country a total of 1,582 parks and green spaces have received the prestigious Green Flag Award or Green Flag Community Award this year.
