Elvet Green Durham

15/06/2026

We've litter picked the park, riverbanks, and racecourse this afternoon. It's great to see such a small amount of litter after such a large-scale event like the Durham Regatta. Thank you to everyone who helped keep it so tidy.

We've also replaced the binbags at the entrances of the park. The new grass is coming through well in the back corner and will be getting another treatment soon.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

12/06/2026

Today, we've swept all of the pathways, wiped down the benches, tidied the flowerbeds, and topped up all of the birdfeeders.

We've swept, redefined, and tidied up the St Cuthburt's water stairs ahead of the Durham Regatta this weekend.

A massive thank you to Cut & Strim for kindly coming down and tidying up the edges of the green. We've also removed the cut grass and generally cleaned up the lawn.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

08/06/2026

It would appear that the council cut the grass down at the park before we had a chance to do so ourselves on Friday.

While we are grateful the council honoured our request to participate in 'No Mow May,' despite not actually replying to our email, it is still disappointing they didn't inform us about their intentions.

Unfortunately, this means that our planned wildflower meadow walk will have to wait until next year, which means that the butterfly population will likely now not increase as we had been working towards.

It's also likely scattered and damaged the recently sown seed we were giving time to root. We will still be on site on Friday to strim and tidy up the boundaries and missed areas regardless.

Also, our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

08/06/2026

We'll be cutting the grass on the green, creating a meadow walk around the picnic benches, and conducting our usual regular clean up on Friday ahead of the Durham Regatta.

Don't forget that access from the riverbank side of the park will be restricted over the weekend, however the southside entrance will remain open.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

07/06/2026

Today, we've deweeded and swept the pathways, tidied up the flowerbeds, topped up the birdfeeders, wiped down the benches, and litter picked the park, racecourse, and riverbanks.

We'll be cutting the grass and creating a meadow walk around the benches and tress next week. We'll also be sowing more grass seed to repair damaged areas around the park later in the month.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

02/06/2026

That's the park, racecourse, and riverbanks litterpicked and the bin bags at the entrances replaced.

We'll be cutting the grass on the green and creating a meadow path around the picnic benches later this week.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

31/05/2026

Today, we've swept all the pathways, deweeded the southside flowerbeds, topped up the birdfeeders, wiped down the benches, and litter picked the park, riverbanks, and racecourse.

We've also cut back the over hanging branches at the rear entrance to the park and sown a load of new grass seed on the green.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

26/05/2026

Respect the water!

Rivers, locks, weirs and sluices may look like fun places to cool down this , but they can contain hidden dangers.

Would you know what to do if you saw someone struggling? Remember:
📞 Phone
🗣️ Float
🛟 Throw

26/05/2026

This morning, we bagged up and removed 11 x 80 litre black bags of rubbish from the overflowing bins, riverbanks, and racecourse. Surprisingly, there was nearly no litter at all in the park, but our bin bags were full!

We've replaced the bin bags at the park and stacked up all of the rubbish to be collected by the council at some point.

Just a reminder that it is currently unlawful to publicly consume alcohol in Durham City due to a Public Safety Protection Order (PSPO) banning the public consumption of alcohol.

The vast majority of the rubbish is alcohol and snack food containers taken down the river by students, as witnessed by our volunteers over the weekend. The selective enforcement of the current PSPO in Durham City needs to be addressed immediately.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA

25/05/2026

There are several large piles of rubbish accumulating next to overflowing bins along the riverbanks due to not being emptied over the bank holiday weekend.

We have litter picked the park for the second time today and will return in the morning to clear up additional rubbish left this evening.

This issue is becoming increasingly more problematic as the temperature continues to rise, whilst the frequency of which the bins are emptied does not.

We will write to Durham County Council to address the issue and see if additional patrols could be allocated on warmer days particularly on Bank Holidays.

Our campaign to pause the sale of the former toilet block on site is still active. If you haven't already, please consider signing and sharing the petition https://c.org/TLfwq85tsw

Thank you
HGCA