Melbourne’s Royal Park and Fitzroy Gardens win internationally recognised Green Flag Award

The Serco-run Royal Park and Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne have each been honoured with a prestigious Green Flag Award.

Green Flag Awards recognise the world’s best parks or green spaces displaying exemplary horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability, and community involvement. Only six parks in Australia received the award.

Serco staff manage 500 hectares of Melbourne’s open spaces for the City of Melbourne, including maintaining the Royal Park and Fitzroy Gardens, keeping them in perfect condition all year round. Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne’s inner city parks and consists of 170 hectares of grasslands, wetlands, playfields and Nature Play, a new playground next to the Royal Children’s Hospital (pictured).

Fitzroy Gardens attract more than three million visitors a year to admire its 26-hectare grounds which include the model Tudor Village, Captain Cook’s Cottage, the River God Fountain and the Fairies Tree.

Peter Welling Managing Director of Serco’s Citizen Services, which oversees the horticultural program said the global recognition highlighted the wonderful efforts of Serco’s dedicated and skilled Melbourne Parks and Gardens teams.

“As a local Melburnian, it gives me great pride to see our parks and gardens honoured by these Green Flag Awards. Royal Park and Fitzroy Gardens are amazing community assets, helping make Melbourne the world’s most liveable city,” Mr Welling said.

“We work in partnership with the City of Melbourne to maintain Melbourne’s open spaces for the public. In total that is an amazing four million square metres of grasslands, turf, and median strips and we care for more than 300,000 square metres of floral beds.

Serco Asia Pacific’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Irwin, said the dedication and enthusiasm of Serco’s Melbourne Parks and Gardens teams had been a major contributor to the success.

“Congratulations to the proud team who work hard so the people of Melbourne can enjoy these amazing spaces. These awards are recognition of Serco’s great partnership with the City of Melbourne and demonstrate the team’s commitment to excellence is recognised by their industry peers. We remain committed to cultivating exceptional green spaces for the people of Melbourne to enjoy.”