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Kelvedon wins the Best Kept Village competition
News - 8 July 2010
The Parish Council is delighted to announce that Kelvedon has won the Best Kept Village Award in the Class 2 category (for villages with a population of between 2000 - 5000 people).
At the AGM of the Rural Community Council of Essex on 7 July 2010, Kelvedon Parish Council was presented with a framed certificate and received a cheque for £150.
Success in this competition has been achieved through the help and assistance of many individuals and organisations, work which the Parish Council is keen to acknowledge. Among these are: Mick Andrews (the Parish Amenities and Maintenance Warden) for his unstinting dedication to duty; to Kelvedon in Bloom (KiB) and its many volunteers for making the parish a more colourful place; to the assistance given by Braintree District Council’s Clean Team, who help out whenever necessary; and to the many people out walking their dogs, who not only clear up after their pets, but take out an extra bag and litter pick as they walk. Every small contribution helps enormously.
The village has benefited from many more floral displays than previously. After removing 25 very old barrels, KiB volunteers have been busy planting up 163 containers, including 22 white flower boxes and 44 new containers, seven of which were generously donated by Connaught PLC, a company presently upgrading Greenfields Community Housing stock. KiB purchased the remainder of the new containers from an Awards For All lottery grant, which also paid for the new seat and bin outside the Health Centre. The increase in the number of planters has enabled some to be located in housing areas beyond the traditional area of the High Street.
All of the new containers and 90% of the old planters have internal reservoirs for water conservation and, apart from the white flower boxes, all will be planted by KiB for the winter months too. For this, 3000 pansies have been ordered for autumn planting.
KiB’s successful application for a Grassroots grant has enabled a new information board to be installed on Pensioners’ Piece on the corner of Station Road. KiB receives an annual grant from the Parish Council and KiB volunteers also fundraise towards the cost of the plants, as well as growing many plants from cuttings to sell or plant out in the permanent beds.
The council would like to join KiB in offering grateful thanks to the sponsors and to the many volunteers, some new, who have helped with the planting of the containers and tending of the permanent planting areas throughout the village, and to the residents and businesses that tend and water the containers adjacent to their premises.
The village has already been inspected by the Anglia in Bloom judges and the outcome of this separate competition will be known in mid-September.