The Countryside Team
Dartford Borough Council's Countryside and Parks Team comprises four key members: the Countryside and Biodiversity Lead, the Countryside Parks Officer, the Green Spaces Assistant, and the Countryside Ranger. Together, they are responsible for the management of numerous green spaces within the Borough. The team operates from two primary locations: the Civic Centre and Darenth Country Park.
While the Countryside Team manages several of the countryside sites, the maintenance of more formal urban parks is outsourced to landscape companies. In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on enhancing biodiversity throughout Dartford's green spaces. To achieve this, we have merged the management of both countryside and park sites.
The main sites are:
Dartford Heath 130 hectares (320 acres) - one of the last remaining lowland heaths in Kent but with a wide variety of other habitat types as well, including woodland, scrub, open grassland and three ponds.
Darenth Country Park 42 hectares (102 acres) - grazing fields, open meadows and woodland, with lots of hedgerows, an orchard and a pond. The site also includes two cemeteries from Darenth Park Hospital which used to occupy the site and chalk grassland SSSI.
Darenth/Ladies Woods - DBC own 36 hectares (88 acres) of a total 85 hectares (210 acres) of these lovely woods - designated as ancient woodland and a SSSI.
Other sites include:
Brooklands Lakes, Gunpowder Mills and Heath Lane open space.
The Countryside Team, implements management plans, maintain sites, manage visitors, carries out practical conservation tasks, works with volunteers, organizes events and guided walks for the general public, together with many other duties.
The Community Safety Unit Park Rangers carry out patrolling of the sites to minimise anti-social behaviour such as off-road motor cycles and quad bikes, rubbish dumping, graffiti and vandalism.
The Countryside Team carry out FREE guided walks of Dartford Heath and Darenth Country Park. All details can be found via our Countryside Guided Walks page
If you would like to volunteer with the Countryside team, please leave a message on 01322 285497 and a team member will get back to you.
If your call is to report anti-social behaviour, please contact our customer service team on 01322 343434