Grid community award helps restore Best Kept Village Pond

Edington Village’s pond might not be the largest of ponds but it is an important asset and one which has helped Edington win the Best Kept Village in West Wiltshire and come third overall in Wiltshire.

Thanks to a Wessex Water Community Grid Award the pond can now be restored to its original condition. Jennifer Powell from Wessex Water visited the village on Monday 5th June and presented a cheque for £1,030 to cllr Geoffrey Lupton who applied for this award on behalf of the Parish Council.

“Our pond in some respect is the village focal point as the village is very spread out,” cllr Lupton said. “It is fed from a natural spring and possibly the first houses of the village would have been built near this valuable water source.

“Certainly the village recognises its value and volunteers keep it clean and looked after. However it now needs professional work done to cut back the two overhanging beech trees which are starving it of light and making the pond stagnant and clogged with weeds. Once the trees have been cut back, volunteers will take over again and plant shrubs around the pond to attract insect life and oxygenating plants to keep the water ‘breathing’. We are also going to re-build the pond’s roadside bank.

“Winning this Grid Community Award means we can get the job done in time for summer and hopefully in time for judging Best Kept Village in Wiltshire!”

The Grid Community Awards are now in their second year and provide funds for projects that will help the environment and wildlife on land where Wessex Water’s new infrastructure engineering works are.  The Watermark Award provides funds for environmental projects within the Wessex Water area. Now in its twenty third year, it has supported over 900 environmental initiatives. Both Awards are organised by The Conservation Foundation, all projects are judged by a panel chaired by its President, David Bellamy.