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Wiltshire Branch |
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By Margaret Armand Smith Once again The Wiltshire Branch of CPRE is organizing the Best Kept Village Competition in the County. Entry forms have been posted to the Parish Councils. Last year 61 villages entered the competition, which the Branch believes, encourages villages to take pride in their immediate environment and enhances the quality of life in the villages by encouraging the community to be involved with and developing the care of the local environment. In fact it is not unusual for villages to endorse that entering the competition brings together the community through the work involved – the overall planning and tidying of the village. This can open the way for future involvement in other aspects of rural life. The competition will again have three categories – Small Village (population 1 – 300); Medium Village (population 301 – 1000); Large Village (1001 – 3,500). There are two rounds in the competition… the First Round and Second Round. The demise of the District Councils has inevitably led to some changes all of which were introduced in the 2009 Competition, particularly the judging of the First Round. In the past teams of three judges went out into the countryside to select the village in their category they felt worthy of going forward to the Second Round. These teams were made up of two CPRE members and one District Councillor. Last year the teams were mainly made up of CPRE members, although a few past District Councillors kindly agreed to help with the judging which was very much appreciated. As usual cash prizes will be awarded to the winners in the three categories to the first three villages in the Second Round of the competition. Although there are no longer any District Council awards Wiltshire Council still present a plaque to each of the category winners and there are CPRE certificates for the winners of the First Round and the runners-up in the Second Round. For the first time in over ten years Calor is no longer sponsoring the competition nor is it running the Calor Village of the Year Competition. Wiltshire Life has kindly agreed to donate £500 towards the running costs of the competition. However, any ideas of other companies that might be interested in sponsoring the competition would be much appreciated. Please send them to Lt. Cdr. John Blake, the Branch Secretary at Lansdowne House, Long Street, Devizes, SN10 1NJ or email them to wiltscpre@btconnect.com Finally, we would be grateful if our village members would ask their Parish Council if they intend to enter this year’s competition. Should their answer be ‘No’ please ask them to reconsider. It can be great fun and financially beneficial. County Round Results 2009 Small Village Category First - Wilcot - Kennet Second - Marston Meysey - North Wilts Third - Chitterne - West Wilts Fourth - Stapleford - South Wilts Medium Village Category First - Biddestone - North Wilts Second - Steeple Ashton - West Wilts Third - Hindon - South Wilts Fourth - Collingbourne Ducis - Kennet Fifth - Liddington - SBC Large Village Category First - Blunsdon - SBC Second - Ramsbury - Kennet Third -Box - North Wilts Fourth - Hilperton - West Wilts Fifth - Laverstock - South Wilts |
| CPRE, Wiltshire Branch,
Lansdowne House, Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1NJ Tel: 01380 722157 | Fax: 0870 831 0066 | Email: wiltscpre@btconnect.com Web: www.cprewiltshire.org.uk National site: www.cpre.org.uk The Campaign to Protect Rural England exists to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources in town and country. CPRE is not responsible for the content, services or reliability of links to external websites. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | All content © CPRE unless otherwise stated. Last update: 31 March 2010 |
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