Business Improvement District (BID) Better Bankside is celebrating after receiving two Green Flag Community Awards for its Bankside Urban Forest and Low Line Projects. The Green Flag Award, an international quality mark for parks and green spaces, is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Better Bankside team in designing and caring for Bankside’s green areas, which local workers, visitors and residents enjoy.
The first Green Flag Community Award was awarded to Bankside’s Urban Forest project, launched in 2007, which has seen the area’s medieval streets and urban spaces transformed into green windows of colour, biodiversity and wellbeing. Since the project began, more than 250 trees have been planted, while green cover in the neighbourhood has increased by more than 1,000m². Overall, 10,000m² of public space has undergone a greening transformation, across 25 different sites, improving the streets of Bankside for people and the environment. Green Flag judges were particularly impressed by the project’s sustainable planting and upcycling elements, as well as the bespoke native planting scheme designed for one of Better Bankside’s members, The Africa Centre.
Another Green Flag was awarded for the greening work which is part of the Low Line project, a partnership between the Arch Company, Blue Bermondsey, Team London Bridge, and Better Bankside. The project has seen Bankside’s mighty network of disused Victorian rail viaducts transformed to house gorgeous restaurants and unique visitor offers, including theatres, music venues and even an aerial fitness studio. Greening, biodiversity and climate change have all played an integral part in the Low Line development, which remains sympathetic to its history, while being forward-thinking in its approach to the environment. Judges from Green Flag highlighted the excellent use of sustainable materials throughout the Low Line, the organic horticulture principles integral to the project and its close links to the business community, commenting that it had “evolved to become a highly valued asset to the area”. Sustainable approaches to Low Line greening has included creating planters using leftover materials, using peat-free compost and selecting sustainable species to add biodiversity.
On winning the Green Flag status, Nicole Gordon, CEO of Better Bankside, said: “Finding opportunities to introduce new green spaces in urban environments is vital in future proofing our cities and we are very proud of having achieved the Green Flag award for Bankside Urban Forest and now the Low Line”.
Urban Gardener, Daniel Lea of Better Bankside commented; “At our 25 sites, we have improved biodiversity and soil health through using nectar rich plants and sustainable practices like propagating, plant division and mulching. Over the course of just one-year, Better Bankside has introduced over 500 plants that will tolerate the ever-changing climate, using diverse species that benefit both wildlife and human populations- this has included medicinal plants such as Artemesia, Inulas and Althaea officinalis (marshmallow).”
Commenting on Bankside’s Urban Forest and Low Line new green accreditations, Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd MBE, said; “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Better Bankside on achieving a Green Flag Award. We know that staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award, everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement.”
The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
