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Green Flag awards for 17 Vale spaces

Wednesday, 16 July 2025 at 19:26

By Gareth Joy X @lookoutwales2

Keep Wales Tidy

Seventeen sites in the Vale of Glamorgan have been awarded Green Flag status.

All but one of this year's awards goes to local community sites, including the garden at Llantwit Major's CF61 centre for the first time.

The Merthyr Dyfan cemetery in Barry, which is maintained by the town council, is the only site in the county to win the full award.

Last year, Vale of Glamorgan Council withdrew from the Green Flag scheme in a cost-cutting move, which saw eight parks in the Barry and Penarth areas stripped of their status.

The local authority did not apply again this year, but insisted its parks were still "well maintained".

Meanwhile, two sites overseen by Penarth Town Council - the Penarth Cemetery and the West House Garden - did not make the list.

A spokesperson told Bro Radio News that the council did not submit applications for Green Flag status this year.

The other community award winners were:

  • The Bridge Between Community Garden, Barry Uniting Church
  • Bee Loud Glade, near Dyffryn
  • Birchgrove Woodlands
  • Cwm Talwg Local Nature Reserve
  • Elizabethan Orchard
  • Friends of Victoria Square, Penarth
  • Goldsland Farm
  • Lanlay Orchard, nr Peterston-super-Ely
  • Little Hill Brock Street, Barry
  • Nightingale Garden, Dinas Powys
  • Old Hall Gardens, Cowbridge
  • Our Health Meadow, Llandough
  • Upper Orchard Field, Wenvoe
  • Welsh Orchard, Wenvoe
  • Wenvoe Community Orchard
  • Wenvoe Wild Orchard

In neighbouring Cardiff, there were 23 full Green Flag awards, including Bute Park, the Cardiff Bay Barrage, the Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve and Flat Holm Island.

Keep Wales Tidy said across the country, a record 315 Green Flags were awarded - including 223 community sites, breaking its own world record, although the number of flags in the Vale of Glamorgan is down from last year.

Owen Derbyshire, chief executive of Keep Wales Tidy, said the number of green spaces awarded Green Flag status was "a real testament to the hard work and dedication of those who care for these special places."

He added: "We’re especially proud that Wales has broken the record for community award winners for the second year running, with an incredible 223 sites recognised in 2025."

"This achievement highlights the vital role these spaces play in supporting the health and wellbeing of communities across Wales.”

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies added: "Our local green spaces play a vital role in connecting us to nature, supporting biodiversity and providing opportunities for healthy recreation, and it is particularly pleasing to see people not only using these spaces but also actively helping to maintain and improve them."

"The standards required to achieve Green Flag status are exceptionally high, so I'm very delighted to see so many diverse sites and organisations achieving this prestigious recognition and want to congratulate everyone involved for providing outstanding facilities that benefit both local communities and visitors alike."

According to a document published last March, Vale of Glamorgan Council had saved £140,000 from their decision to withdraw from the Green Flag scheme.

Council leader Lis Burnett told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in April that they were working towards "a more sustainable approach with greater use of perennial plants, trees and local species to support local biodiversity.”

She added: “We fully recognise how important our parks and green spaces are to our residents and continue to maintain them to a high standard.“

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