Tower Hamlet’s Victoria Park voted as the nation’s favourite for the second year in a row

22 October 2015

In a public vote, Victoria Park, in East London's Tower Hamlets, has beaten off stiff competition from more than 1,500 other Green Flag Award parks to be crowned the People's Choice 2015.

In second place was Margam Park in Neath Port Talbot, South Wales, and in third place was Maidstone's Mote Park. Green Flag Award-winning parks from Scotland and Northern Ireland were also represented, with Strathaven Park and Slieve Gullion Forest Park, respectively, in the top 20. For the first time, a university site is one of the public's favourite green spaces, with Reading University's Whiteknights site coming seventh in the vote.

Victoria Park is one of London's oldest and most important historic parks, visited by millions of Londoners and tourists since opening nearly 170 years ago. The largest of Tower Hamlets' parks, (ten of which currently hold a Green Flag Award), it has one of the highest visitor numbers of all London's parks, with around 12 million visits each year.

In addition to the gardens and open green spaces, the facilities at the park for the public to enjoy include children's play areas, boat hire, sports pitches, bowling greens, and several sports clubs. The park's team run events, activities and festivals, as well as a year-round community programme.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs, said: "What an achievement! With Victoria Park winning the People's Choice Award for the second year in a row, the park has truly been cemented as one of the most loved places in the whole of London.

"We're so proud of this incredible park. Our staff lovingly look after it and make it such a stunning part of the borough, and this award really should be seen as a huge round of applause to them. With the fireworks coming back to the Park on November 7, I encourage everyone to go down and enjoy the people's park!"

Green Flag Award manager Paul Todd said: "The huge number of public votes we received show just how important parks and green spaces are to people. Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets is a truly worthy winner of the 2015 People's Choice awards. Congratulations to all of the staff and volunteers who go the extra mile to maintain the park's high standards and make it such a wonderful place for people to visit."

The top 20 winners are:

	Park name	Managing organisation	Country / organisation
1^st	Victoria Park	LB Tower Hamlets	London
2^nd	Margam Park	Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council	Wales
3^rd	Mote Park	Maidstone Borough Council	South East
4^th	Arlington Square Gardens	Arlington Association	London
5^th	Millennium Country Park	Forest of Marston Vale Trust	East of England
6^th	Valentines Park	Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure Ltd	London
7^th	Whiteknights	University of Reading	South East
8^th	Alexandra Palace Park	Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust	London
9^th	Myatt's Fields Park	London Borough of Lambeth	London
10^th	Cassiobury Park	Watford Borough Council	East of England
11^th	Elsecar Park and Local Reservoir Nature Reserve	Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council	Yorkshire & Humber
12^th	Beacon Park	Lichfield District Council	West Midlands
13^th	Slieve Gullion Forest Park	Newry and Mourne District Council	Northern Ireland
14^th	Strathaven Park	South Lanarkshire Council	Scotland
15^th	Richmond Park	The Royal Parks Agency	London
16^th	Hollycroft Park	Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council	East Midlands
17^th	Sandwell Valley Country Park	Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council	West Midlands
18^th	Telford Town Park	Telford and Wrekin Council	West Midlands
19^th	Hardwick Park	Durham County Council	North East
20^th	Lower Leas Coastal Park	Shepway District Council	South East