Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Most playgrounds across the borough are currently open. Please note that some facilities, such as public toilets, may not be open at all sites. Please adhere to the signs and instructions at playgrounds, and keep to the social-distancing guidelines.

Parks, play and open spaces

We provide and maintain many of the parks, open spaces and play areas across Dacorum. Our green assets, including parks, play areas, adventure playgrounds and nature conservation sites are a great place to relax and unwind. The variety on offer means that there is an ideal space for everyone to read a book, walk the dog or spend the day with the family.

Our Parks and Open Spaces team work with 'Friends' groups to improve the quality of our local parks and open spaces. This can include anything from developing new facilities such as skate parks, replanting roundabouts, planting flower and shrub beds and maintaining playgrounds. Last year 35,000 bulbs, 70,000 bedding plants and 2,000 perennials were planted in parks and open spaces across Dacorum. 

Awards

Five of our parks have achieved the coveted Green Flag Award - a national standard of excellence for parks and green spaces.

• Canal Fields
• Chipperfield Common
• Tring Memorial Gardens
• Bunkers Park
• Water Gardens

A further two parks also have the accolade of Queen Elizabeth II Fields status:

• Gadebridge Park
• Bovingdon Green

We are also a network award finalist with Keep Britain Tidy for our Love Parks campaign, which featured a video of people enjoying a range of different hobbies in our parks during Love Parks Week 2017.

Park and Open Spaces Byelaws consultation

We want to make sure Dacorum’s parks and open spaces remain clean and safe for everyone to enjoy. To ensure better management of our grounds, we've taken the decision to adopt the Government’s Model Byelaws.

As part of this regulatory process, we ran a public consultation on the proposed byelaws between 20 July 2020 and 30 September 2020.

Find out more about the outcomes of the consultation in our  Statement of Assessment - Byelaws for Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces (PDF 410KB).

Strategies and plans

We work to a Green Space strategy to deliver improved public spaces within the borough and to help us protect our environment from the pressures of development. You can read the strategy on our green spaces page. 

In order for our parks to maintain their high standards it is important for the team to have management plans in place. For example:

•  Canal Fields Management Plan 2015-2020 (PDF 4MB)
•  Tring Memorial Garden Management Plan 2018-2023 (PDF 8MB)

Walking

There are a variety of walking routes available, catering for all abilities. The routes can be found on the Hertfordshire County Council website.

Policy on memorials in parks and open spaces

We support the needs and principles of allowing memorials in parks and on green space areas. For more information, read our  Policy on memorials (PDF 33KB) or telephone 01442 228000 and ask for 'Clean, Safe and Green'.