How we look after our Parks and Open Spaces

Information on how we look after our parks and open spaces including strategy, management plans and grounds maintenance.

Parks and Open Spaces Strategy 2022 - 2027

Our Parks and Open Spaces Strategy 2022 - 2027 [1,125KB] guides how we look after our parks and open spaces.

Management plans for our parks and open spaces

We have created five-year management plans for our main parks and open spaces:

Grounds Maintenance

We with our grounds maintenance contractor, Glendale Services, aim to keep all our parks and open spaces litter free, well maintained and available for all to enjoy.

If you want to speak to us about any of our parks and open spaces, please contact the Operations Team on 01279 655261 or use our contact us page

Our grounds maintenance contractor, Glendale, is responsible for the upkeep of all East Herts parks, grass verges, and open spaces. They’ve recently launched a live works tracker, offering real-time updates on current and completed maintenance activities across the district.

Visit Glendale’s website to explore the tracker and see what’s happening in your area.

Please note: The tracker only includes areas managed by Glendale. It does not cover land maintained by other organisations (such as Town or Parish Councils) or public litter bins, which are serviced separately by our recycling, waste and street cleansing contractor, Veolia.

The tracker provides guidance on when certain features such as grass, shrub beds and dog waste bins will next be visited.  On some occasions, where shrub beds are not encroaching or weedy, the teams will inspect but not necessarily carry out any work.  Likewise, if they visit a site and find the grass doesn’t need cutting they are not required to mow it.

We cut highway grass on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council.  These verges are included in the tracker.

"Friends Groups" - how to get involved

If you'd like to get involved with how your favourite park is managed or want to help out with practical conservation tasks you can join one of our "Friends Groups". More information is available on our Make Friends with your Park page.

Cattle in our parks

Our Grazing Animals in our Parks [408KB] guide more information on how and why we graze animals in our parks, and more detailed guidance for visitors.

We do not graze Bulls, pregnant animals or those that are calving or have young with them.

If you notice any problems with any animals or wildlife in our parks or open spaces please contact the Operations Team on 01279 655261 or use our contact us page. This number can be used out of hours to contact the Council in the event of any emergency.

Please follow the Countryside Code.