Earlier this year, Bridgend County Borough put itself on the map as one of the country’s most beautiful areas after scooping nine Green Flag awards.
Among the success stories was Tremains Wood, a small ancient woodland area in the centre of Brackla, which received a Community Award, its maiden Green Flag triumph.
The journey to achieving the award started in January with Tremains Wood Rangers, and two of the dedicated volunteers, Dana Boon and Mark Payn highlighting the site’s best features and the works that are being implemented in an application.
The woods were then visited by a judge who assessed them against the following criteria:
- A welcoming place
- Healthy, safe and secure
- Well maintained and clean
- Environmental management
- Biodiversity, landscape and heritage
- Community involvement
- Marketing and communication
- Management
Dana said: “The Green Flag award process looked like a challenge for the Rangers to go for, so, in the best tradition of leaping into the unknown, we set about ensuring we had everything in place to impress the judge ahead of their visit.
“The judge was great with lots of advice on improvement and ideas for the group to pursue. Now we need to make sure we make the improvements.”
Mark added: “It’s been a fantastic journey so far and we are looking forward to working towards retaining the Green Flag in 2021-2022.”
Cllr Stuart Baldwin, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “I’d like to thank everyone involved with managing Tremains Woods for their hard work and commitment to achieving their first Green Flag award.
“The award scheme recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces.”