Villagers fear pond is drying up

RESIDENTS in Sonning Common are worried that the village pond is losing water and about the effect this is having on wildlife.

Widmore Pond should be about 6ft deep but the water level has dropped by about a metre in the last two months.

It is home to carp, roach and ducks and the pond, including the “Duckingham Palace” nesting site, has been under the guardianship of the parish council since 1967.

The Environment Agency has said that it has been the driest spring since 1956, with 35 per cent less rainfall than expected.

But at a meeting of the parish council, councillors claimed the water level in the pond could be being impacted by the construction of the neighbouring Widmore Park retirement village.

Construction of the 133-home development by Inspired Villages began in July last year and it has been claimed that a silt trap could be unintentionally capturing water that would otherwise run off into the pond.

Vicki Boorman, who chairs the parish council, said the council was investigating possible causes but that recent dry weather conditions are likely to have contributed.

She told the meeting: “We have been monitoring it, we are aware of the water levels going down. What I would also say is that it is officially the driest spring since 1956.

“We know that is partly why the pond is potentially going down in levels. The water will evaporate and that will be a contributing factor.

“We have also been speaking to Inspired Villages. Both the clerk and I are going to go on site to have a look at exactly what Inspired Villages is doing.”

Sam Metcalf, who lives in the village, accused the council of allowing the pond to slip into disrepair.

He told the meeting: “How has the council let the pond get into the state it has? It’s not only the water levels that is the issue. It hasn’t been looked after for years. The council keep creating all these new things and that’s all well and good but look after what you’ve got already. If one of us owned the pond, I’m sure the council would be straight on us to get around to fixing it as soon as possible.”

Cllr Boorman agreed that the pond was an asset to the village and said its maintenance is a priority for the council.

She said the council had asked Inspired Villages to contribute to the maintenance of the pond.

Cllr Boorman said: “It is really important to us and the parish council has maintained it in the past. What we thought was appropriate was that Inspired Villages contributed to that.

“We are hoping that they are going to come back to us within this week with a plan of what they are prepared to do.”

Sara Underwood, deputy clerk of the council, said that she consulted the Environment Agency and will be collecting data to send in for assessment.

She said: “With regards to the fish, we’ve got a lot of carp in there and, fortunately, the carp can survive. They said there is no point in us removing the carp at the moment and to just monitor the situation. Mr Metcalf asked about the possibility of implementing temporary measures to prevent the water level from dropping further.”

Councillor Brian Robinson said: “Either it’s the drought, or there might be some other factors that go into it — that’s what is being investigated. These kinds of things take a long time to go through.”

Another resident responded: “It has nothing to do with the drought — sorry — you can sugarcoat this all you like. I reckon there is a 99 per cent chance that it is something to do with the new development.”

Councillor Jane Diwell said: “The pond has been low many times before and it always recovers. It has been there since Roman times.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said it was investigating.

A spokesman for Inspired Villages told the annual parish meeting on Monday: “We’ve got a vested interest in the pond — it’s not just local residents. It’s in our interest to have an attractive landscape right next door so we don’t want to see the pond disappear and diminish.”