Pond at Kenilworth primary school set to be restored and made more accessible to the community

The large pond at a primary school in Kenilworth is set to be restored thanks to a grant.

The Park Hill School Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) was awarded £3,640 in funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.

When the Park Hill PTA recently held a ‘ground force day’ to tidy up the school grounds and bring the pond back to life, it found that there was a tear in the membrane of the pond and that it would need replacing.

Working with the school they have decided that they would like to bring the pond back to life and make it more accessible to the school and wider community but lacked the resources.

With the fund, the PTA plans to remove the existing pond and fencing and clear out the overgrown plants.

In its place they will create a new pond with a decked viewing platform, plant some new native plants and install a new fence and gate to keep the area safe and secure.

The ambition for the new pond is to encourage the gradual reintroduction of biodiversity – aquatic, bird, insect and small mammals – to the school site in a way that supports the local environment and facilitates learning for Kenilworth children.

Sara Hattersley, Chair of the Park Hill School PTA, said: “The Park Hill pond is a much loved feature of our school grounds, enabling children from our wider community to enjoy and learn from it.

"Our school families worked really hard to clear the area and identify the problems.

"We are truly grateful to Warwickshire County Council for the funding which has enabled us to restore the pond to its former glory and reintroduce biodiversity back into the school grounds.

"This is a wonderful example of partnership working and we are looking forward now to a future where the pond is a central part of children’s experience at school.”

Cllr Heather Timms, portfolio holder for environment, climate and culture, added: “Ponds are incredibly rich in biodiversity, often being home to many rare species, such as water-violet, true fox sedge and medicinal leech.

"Relative to their size, ponds hold a disproportionately high level of species richness, and often more biodiversity than larger ecosystems such as rivers and lakes.

"They are, however, often undervalued and overlooked as a habitat.

“With this in mind, it is fantastic news that the Park Hill School PTA are planning to use their Green Shoots Funding to revamp their pond, creating a beautiful outdoor space that Kenilworth children can enjoy and learn from for generations to come.”

The £1m Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund is allocated by Warwickshire County Council and supports a range of small, community-powered initiatives across Warwickshire in addressing the climate change emergency.

For more information about the Fund, go to: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund