PUT the flags out! Test Valley’s southern area planning committee has finally given bosses of Romsey War Memorial Park the green light to fly the prestigious green flag it first won nearly two years ago.

The award made by a consortium including Keep Britian Tidy and British Trust Conservation Volunteers, recognises the nation’s top green spaces.

Councillors objected to the previous application in October, 2008, claiming that the flag, which will be flown from six-metre pole, would be too noisy when it flapped in the wind and would be “detrimental to visual amenities and the character” of the park.

On Tuesday, planning committee members voted in favour of the flagpole, which will be erected south of the park’s tennis court. The previous application had been for a spot nearer homes bordering the park.

Romsey War Memorial Park was the first open space in Test Valley to be awarded the green flag, a status which is reviewed annually.

Secretary of the Friends of Romsey War Memorial Park, Dorothy Baverstock, who is also a member of the southern are planning committee, said: “We are over the moon. We can put the flags out now. The green flag is a credit to all the guys who work to keep the park clean and tidy.

“It’s a very prestigious award for a park to have. We can use the flagpole not only for the green flag but also on occasions like Remembrance Sunday and the Queen’s birthday and St George’s Day,” said a delighted Mrs Baverstock.