BRATTON has been named the ‘Best Kept Large Village in West Wiltshire’ beating five other villages to the top spot.
Organisers, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Wiltshire said, “39 villages throughout the county were tested against the competition criteria which look for tidiness, cleanliness, presentation and village community spirit.
“The parish councils and their volunteers had clearly been hard at work, achieving encouragingly high standards and making the judges’ task that much more difficult. Each village is judged within the categories of ‘small’, ‘medium’ and ‘large’ and in this first round they are only judged within their own of four districts: West Wiltshire, North Wiltshire, South Wiltshire and Kennet (East Wiltshire).”
Bratton’s win in the West Wiltshire Large Village category will now see them compete against other large villages in the county to take home the best kept large village in Wiltshire award.
In their category they topped Winsley, Hilperton, Holt, Bowerhill and Dilton Marsh. In the next round, they face Ashton Keynes, Aldbourne, and Whiteparish.
Jeff Ligo, chair of Bratton parish council said, “The council is delighted to win this competition. Since the council was elected in 2017 it has found an additional £5,000 per year to invest in keeping the village in good order. Our thanks are due to the team of volunteers led by Peter Brabner and our contractor and the parish steward who do much to keep the village spick and span.
“Thanks too to all our residents who are so good at picking up dog ‘poo’, depositing litter in bins and trimming their hedges alongside public footpaths. We hope that we will be declared the best kept large village in Wiltshire next month, having secured the West Wiltshire prize.”
The competition is sponsored by Hills Waste, Princeton Homes and Haine and Smith opticians.
Results of the final round will be published in August.
