Sustainability in Denton and Audenshaw’s Green Flag Parks

The Council continuously takes account of the principles of sustainability in its management of the parks that have been awarded the Green Flag, this is carried out by-

• Pesticide use is minimal and justified.
• Peat free compost is widely used.
• The majority of waste material in the grounds is recycled.

Use of pesticides

Pesticides are not distributed within the Green Flag Parks unless there are no viable alternatives that can be found. If pesticides are required the product distribution would be limited and only be used as a spot rather than a blanket cover treatment if the condition has spread out of control and other methods of treatment have failed.

Using Peat Free

In recent years Denton Nursery has increasingly reduced its consumption of peat based composts, replacing them with either peat free or peat reduced products. Denton Nursery has carried this out to comply with the Green Flag Award Scheme, but also for sustainability reasons. These reasons include helping to reduce the extraction of peat from our remaining peat-lands and the reuse of recycled composted green waste.

Recycling Material

All arboricultural waste including large trunks are now split and chipped with the resultant chippings used as mulch on planted beds across the borough reducing the use of herbicide. All green waste generated in the park is collected from containers by dedicated Tameside staff to be composted centrally by Greater Manchester Waste. Also the use of recycled materials in the choice of parks furniture e.g. benches and containers.