AMENITY STANDARD WELCOMED

Following its recent launch, the Amenity Standard has been very much welcomed by all sides of the amenity sector and is already being incorporated into tender documents and specifications going forward say the Amenity Forum.

The Amenity Standard, when held and displayed, demonstrates that all operational activities undertaken are at the highest professional standards and fully comply with all regulations, codes of best practice and follow all best practice guidance.

The Standard is being administered by the Amenity Forum and any Amenity Standard organisation must be a member of an approved assurance scheme. Organisations will not pay any extra to be part of the Standard; only the fees required to be a member of the relevant assurance scheme. The Forum audits the scheme operators involved not the individual organisations. At launch, three assurance schemes were recognised but discussions are on-going with all sub sectors of the important but diverse amenity sector about recognising further schemes or indeed in development of new ones. Indeed recently, a further scheme is seeking recognition applicable to distributors who supply products to local authorities, contractors and others.

The Amenity Forum believe the establishment of the Amenity Standard is a game changing moment for the sector seeking to provide the public and all involved with the assurance that amenity management operations wherever undertaken are safe, appropriate and at the highest standards. Integrated management approaches are core to this, making use of all methods available to achieve optimum results.

The Amenity Standard was formally launched in Scotland at a specially convened conference in February and will be central to a further conference being organised in Wales in May. The Standard has the backing of all national governments throughout the UK and is very much aligned to thinking as the UK government seeks to review the National Action Plan relating to weed, pest and disease management in the coming months. Organisations providing amenity management either for clients or indeed in house, are encouraged by the Amenity Forum to deliver at the Amenity Standard and to discuss how this can best be achieved, they can contact 

Steve Hewitt, manager for the Standard, said, ‘’What goes on in the amenity sector is often unpublicised and unrecognised but those who operate within it are those creating safe, healthy amenity and sports surfaces fit for purpose. This applies to our streets and pavements, our roads and rail, our parks, our sports pitches, golf courses and more.

"The Amenity Standard is designed to give assurance to all who use such facilities that operations are carried out to the highest professional levels of best practice. In future, we would like to see that all amenity operations can demonstrate the Standard giving assurances equivalent to seeing the Red Tractor when buying food.’’