Good news for Macclesfield

[Ray T]

MACCLESFIELD CANAL BECOMES FIRST CANAL EVER TO BE AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS GREEN FLAG

The Macclesfield Canal in Cheshire has become the first ever canal to be awarded Keep Britain Tidy’s coveted Green Flag Award - the mark of a quality green space.

 

The good news comes in the same month that the charity, the Canal & River Trust, celebrates its third anniversary of taking over responsibility for caring for the nation’s 2,000 network of canals and navigable rivers from British Waterways.

 

The 26 mile Macclesfield Canal is one of 239 parks and green spaces across the North West who today are proudly flying a Green Flag Award, after being judged to be some of the best in the country. In total, 1582 parks, cemeteries, universities, shopping centres and community gardens in the UK have met the high standard needed to receive the Green Flag Award or the Green Flag Community Award, in what is another record-breaking year for the award scheme.

 

The Green Flag Award scheme is also extending internationally, including Holland, Australia and New Zealand. And, for the first time this year, three parks in the United Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi have achieved their Green Flag Award.

 

The Green Flag Awards are judged by an army of more than 700 green-space experts, who volunteer their time to visit applicant sites and assess them against eight strict criteria, including environmental standards, cleanliness, sustainability and community involvement.

 

In their feedback report on the Macclesfield Canal, the judges state: “There are perceptible changes in culture within the Canal & River Trust compared with the British Waterways of a few years ago. There is a developing sense of a genuine joint effort between the Trust and the community in looking after the Macclesfield Canal. The importance of both the built and natural heritage of the waterways are now high on the Trust’s agenda.

 

“The Trust is putting much effort into developing community engagement with the waterways. On the Macclesfield this includes ‘Welcome’ volunteers and a number of volunteer work groups and adoption schemes: Manchester & Pennine Waterways leads the field in developing formal adoption groups.”

 

Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, congratulated the local team from the Manchester & Pennine Waterway, led by Partnership member Keith Sexton and waterway manager David Baldacchino, who have broken new ground for the Trust.

He said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the Trust and the Manchester & Pennine Waterway Partnership, and helps to set new standards of excellence across our entire canal network. Our aim is to encourage other canals to take up the challenge now and to seek Green Flag status via the same rigorous assessment process.

 

“The Green Flag award embodies our belief that living waterways transform places and enrich lives. I’m delighted this independent external validation has confirmed our success in realising this goal.”

 

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme. All the flags flying this year are a testament to the efforts of the thousands of men and women, both staff and volunteers, who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award.”

 

ENDS

For further media requests for the Canal & River Trust please contact:

Lynn Pegler / Clive Naish on 07717 760284

Lynn.pegler@canalrivertrust.org.uk

 

Notes to editors:

 

The Canal & River Trust is the guardian of 2,000 miles of historic waterways across England and Wales, caring for the nation’s third largest collection of listed structures, as well as museums, archives, and hundreds of important wildlife sites. We believe that living waterways transform places and enrich lives and our role is to make sure there is always a place on your doorstep where you can escape the pressures of everyday life, stretch your legs and simply feel closer to nature. www.canalrivertrust.org.uk / @CanalRiverTrust / @crtcomms

 

Keep Britain Tidy

A full list of Green Flag Award and Green Flag Community Award winners is available here. http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/greenflagawards2015/2334

The Green Flag Awards Scheme (http://greenflagaward.org/) is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Department of Communities and Local Government, in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens and the National Housing Federation.

Love Parks (http://www.loveparks.org/), run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is the year round celebration of parks and green spaces. It has been set up to recognise, celebrate and support all the hard work friends’ groups do up and down the county to maintain and protect them. Love Parks Week, now in its ninth year, is the highlight of the Love Parks campaign with community groups running events around the country.

 

Press enquiries

Contact the Keep Britain Tidy press office:

Sarah French 01942 612659 sarah.french@keepbritaintidy.org

Helen Bingham 01942 612617 helen.bingham@keepbritaintidy.org

Keep Britain Tidy Mobile (24 hours, 7 days a week): 07768 880016

 

Keep Britain Tidy has ISDN radio facilities for interviews

ISDN: 01942 322178

Please contact the press office in advance to make arrangements

[Neil2]

It's just a shame Macclesfield itself isn't a little more welcoming.

[rasputin]

Does this mean it is safe to swim in it?

[KenK]

They must have done a lot of work since we last boated it about two years ago. Then every bridge hole and there are lots of them were very overgrown and as for Congleton I have never seen a more overgrown towpath. Very shallow in places as well.

To be fair it wasn't all bad, Poynton was nice and the few locks well maintained.

 

Ken

[Machpoint005]

Does this mean it is safe to swim in it?

 

Not to be confused with 'Blue Flag' beaches -- also administered by Keep Britain Tidy...

Edited July 23, 2015 by Machpoint005

[Arthur Marshall]

It's just a shame Macclesfield itself isn't a little more welcoming.

It's OK now - new pontoon mooring just north of the old moorings outside the pub. Room for about half a dozen boats.

[system 4-50]

Does this mean it can have large notices every hundred yards telling us it has a green flag, or will it be on the same pole as "twinned with Das Stinkern SewerHosen in Darmstadt"?

[brassedoff]

Thats good to hear, its not far from us Macc.

 

chocolaty turns the milk brown near poynton

[Ricco1]

There was a piece about it on today's lunchtime local news. Filmed around Braidbar/ Bailey's Trading Post. Very nice, and some nice boats moving!

[Theo]

It's just a shame Macclesfield itself isn't a little more welcoming.

 

It's very odd, that. We came through Macclesfield last year and found the same. The rather aggressive notices about running engines are one thing, but walking around the town you get the same feeling. Some friends of ours were going to move there but they decided to buy a house in Congleton instead. When we asked them why, they said that they didn't like the atmosphere of Macclesfield.

 

N

Edited July 23, 2015 by Theo
Change name

[brassedoff]

 

It's very odd, that. We came through Macclesfield last year and found the same. The rather aggressive notices about running engines are one thing, but walking around the town you get the same feeling. Some friends of ours were going to move there but they decided to buy a house in Congleton instead. When we asked them why, they said that they didn't like the atmosphere of Macclesfield.

 

N

 

I worked at the end of the silk road near MccDonalds it was a bit weird Macclesfield, some nice people but quite a strange place.

[Alan de Enfield]

Have you ever had your 'maccles feeled' ?

[Keeping Up]

It's OK now - new pontoon mooring just north of the old moorings outside the pub. Room for about half a dozen boats.

Only if they are short or can bend in the middle; there are 3 pontoons in a row with an angle of bend between each one, the first and third are each 75ft long and the middle one is 125ft.

[Ray T]

Have you ever had your 'maccles feeled' ?

 

No, but many years ago I took my late wife to 'uddersfield and said "could I?" and she said NO.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Ray T

[brassedoff]

_{Theirs a Leasure Centre in every field on the Macc Canal.}

[Paul C]

Does this mean it is safe to swim in it?

 

Probably for ducks.

[brassedoff]

 

Probably for ducks.

 

the canal water looks like Chocolate when the sun is out near lyme view marina, like in charlie and the chocolate factory just before the tunnel of magical mystery lol

Edited July 23, 2015 by brassedoff

[furnessvale]

They must have done a lot of work since we last boated it about two years ago. Then every bridge hole and there are lots of them were very overgrown and as for Congleton I have never seen a more overgrown towpath. Very shallow in places as well.

To be fair it wasn't all bad, Poynton was nice and the few locks well maintained.

 

Ken

A lot of the work has been done by volunteers rather than CRT. Some of the bridgeholes are as desperately shallow as they have been for years.

 

The local BW/CRT motto is "if it's under the water and we can't see it, it don't matter". Presumably the Blue Flag assessors don't try any boating.

 

George ex nb Alton retired