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Milton Keynes Wins In Bloom Medal

Milton Keynes has been awarded 'Best Large City' and the highest medal rating possible, a Gold Medal, by the Royal Horticultural Society in this year's Thames and Chiltern regional round of the Britain in Bloom competition.


Boy flying a kite in parkland in Milton Keynes

Gardeners, landscape designers, mayors and dignitaries from across the Thames and Chiltern region attended the award ceremony in Newbury on Monday 28 September 2009.

In addition to the gold medal, Campbell Park received a regional award for 'Best Park'. The city's entry was made by Milton Keynes Council, The Open University and The Parks Trust. The entry received special praise for horticulture, environmental responsibility and for the partnership with The Open University.

The gold medal was bestowed on the city based on a scoring system for floral displays, community involvement, cleanliness, recycling and sustainability. Campbell Park and the Hanson Study Centre were worthy of special mention by the judges.

Family cycling in parkland in Milton Keynes

Commenting on the award David Foster, Chief Executive of The Parks Trust, said: "This award demonstrates to the rest of the UK how fantastic the parks and green spaces of Milton Keynes are. We take great pride in our work caring for the parks and we want to encourage others to do so too. The award for Campbell Park is a great testament to the hard work of our landscape officers and rangers."

Peter Goff, parks and open spaces manager for Milton Keynes Council, added: "This is really an award for the people of Milton Keynes to celebrate. We can all be rightly proud of the hard work of all staff in making Milton Keynes a brighter and better place to live. "

The annual Britain in Bloom campaign is the largest horticultural event in Europe and attracts nearly 2,000 entries from cities, towns and villages across Britain. Throughout July Thames and Chilterns in Bloom Judges visited all the regional entrants looking for all-round horticultural achievement, including conservation and natural areas.

Countryside Facts about MK

  • About 20 percent of Milton Keynes is parkland and is cared for by The Parks Trust, adding up to 4,500 acres of river valleys, woodlands, lakesides and parks.
  • In addition to parkland, The Parks Trust takes care of the landscaping along the main grid roads - 80miles of trees, shrubs and flowers
  • Milton Keynes has 22 million trees