VOLUNTEER groups have helped to get the county's small parks recognised as among the best green spaces in the country.
But this year Chelmsford led the way for Essex, with a total of 14 sites winning awards across both the Green Flag and Green Flag Community categories.
Just 14 groups were presented with Green Flag Community Awards in the East of England this year and four of them were from Chelmsford.
Pudding Wood at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmer Valley Local Nature Reserve, Marconi Ponds Nature Reserve in Chelmsford and Priory Fields in Bicknacre, all won the prestigious flag, a benchmark of quality.
Marconi Ponds, located in the centre of Chelmsford, has managed to clinch a prestigious Green Flag for the past four years running. Among the activities which contributed to winning the award were an activity trail, sessions for over 100 Beavers, Brownies and Cubs over the past three months, pond-clearing and planting to support a variety of wildlife.
Jane Allnutt, of the friends group that looks after the nature reserve, said: "Since last year we have developed the site even further.
"It took just over a year to build our activity trail and we are very proud of it.
"The site was finished in April and it is well-visited, I've seen children enjoying the activities and the young boys showing off their muscles on the parallel bars."
The group installed five pieces of equipment around the park, ranging from athletic pieces to those erected for leisure.
Friends of Marconi Ponds used the grant award money of £1,000 from Chelmsford City Council's Grand awards scheme, in addition to collections to fund the project.
Jane said: "Our team of 20 to 30 volunteers aimed to install one piece of equipment every month.
"We try to encourage families to come with children because if the kids don't care about the wildlife and nature now they won't care when they're older.
"We're really proud of what we've created, I really didn't think we would get it all done in time, but I think it is this project which impressed the Green Flag judges, plus it was a lovely, sunny day when they inspected the site.
"It is used 24/7, and community groups visit for trail challenges, it is hard to drag them away when they're here."
Jane is unsure about what they are going to do next year to top this year's work, but said it will probably involve building more cycle stands.
"I am very excited to receive the flag, which will be delivered to my house shortly, and we also win a year's membership of the Conservation Volunteers, which helps us with all our insurance and finance queries," said Jane.
Also winning the award was Priory Fields, in Bicknacre, which has now scooped the sought-after flag for the third year running.
Chairman of Friends of Priory Fields, John Bishop, who has been involved since 2007, said: "We didn't do anything major this year, we just wanted to maintain the fields. But we already have things in the pipeline, such as providing an information board by Priory Arch. We wanted to create this board so more people could understand the history of the place.
"We do all the physical work ourselves, the team of five to eight of us, and we get material donations from people so we are grateful for that too."
The Green Flag has also been retained by bigger parks including Great Notley Country Park, in Great Notley and Danbury Country Park in Danbury.
In Chelmsford an impressive ten sites were awarded, including Chelmer Park, Oaklands Park, Admirals Park, Hylands Park and Boleyn Gardens in Beaulieu Park.
