The projects listed below were determined by the results of the village survey carried out in March 2024 which resulted in the following environmental-focused recommendations that Sustainable Rampton should:
- work with the Parish Council to apply for a grant to clean and maintain the village pond;
- work with the Rampton Village Hall Management Committee (RVHMC) and other village community groups to tackle littering.
Cleaning and maintaining the village pond
Sustainable Rampton met with the Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants (WTBCN) on 21 August 2024 to explore applying for funding for the restoration and maintenance of the pond via the District Level Licensing (DLL) for Great Crested Newt (GCN) pond creation scheme. However, ownership of the pond could not be established, hence it was not possible to apply.
In early 2025, with the support of the Parish Council, advice was sought from ecological specialists Greenwillows Associates Ltd on how best to clean the pond. On 16 March 2025 a working party of 17 volunteers, including 2 children, cleared the pond of overhanging vegetation and weeds to improve the quality of the water in time for the breeding season of any GCNs which may be present. This was the first phase in restoring the pond, the intention is to carry out any further work that may be necessary, such as de-silting, after the summer when the breeding season has ended.
Night time pond surveys, carried out in May by a field ecologist operating under GCN licences from Natural England, established the presence of GCNs and other newts.
GCNs are a protected species so it is illegal to kill, injure, capture, or disturb them, as well as damage or destroy their breeding sites and resting places, even if they aren’t present at the time.
Ducks, ponds and biodiversity
To protect the GCNs and any other newts or invertebrates, we were advised by the WTBCN and Greenwillows Associates not to encourage ducks to use the pond, beyond the occasional natural foraging visit, as ducks feed on newts, their nymphs and the pond plants which provide them with food and cover. Ducks naturally stir up the pond’s sediment when feeding and deposit faeces, so encouraging more ducks than such a small pond would naturally support would lead to algal blooms which block sunlight from reaching pond plants and use up oxygen, suffocating pond wildlife.
Hence we recommended to the Parish Council that the duck house, which had been introduced to the pond a couple of years ago and recently removed for refurbishment, should not be reintroduced to the pond to avoid encouraging more ducks to use the pond than normally would and also to avoid any adverse impact it might have on the pond’s ecosystem and the newts’ habitat.
However, as it was felt that some villagers enjoyed seeing the duck house on the pond but may not be aware of the potential issues, we were asked by the Parish Council to canvass residents’ views on whether or not it should be returned.
Residents were therefore asked via the June/August newsletter to complete a short survey by Friday 29 June 2025.
25 residents responded to the survey.
As can be seen from the below chart, 18/25 (72%) respondents do not want the duck house returned to the pond versus 7/25 (28%) that do.
It was therefore agreed by the Parish Council at its meeting on 8 July 2025 to ask the owner of the duck house not to return it to the pond.
Tackling littering
Unfortunately Rampton, like many other towns and villages, is plagued with regular littering of its verges. Not only does litter in all its guises disfigure our lovely village, it poses a real hazard to wildlife and humans alike. Traditionally, a village litter pick is carried out twice a year in Rampton once in the spring and again in the autumn.
Autumn Litter Pick – Saturday 18 October, 2-4pm
Be a #LitterHero and join us in this autumn’s litter pick. Help us collect all those discarded bottles, cans and general rubbish that are disfiguring our village and endangering wildlife so that we can all enjoy a healthier environment.
Meet up at the Village Hall at 2pm to collect litter grabbers, gloves and high vis vests. Return there afterwards for a chat and refreshments.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible, including children who always make very enthusiastic and energetic litter pickers! Please note that children need to be under the close supervision of a responsible adult.
“Litter-picking is a simple action that anyone can do to make an immediate and visible difference to the environment where we live, work and play.”
NB See research from Keep Britain Tidy on the benefits of picking up litter:
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean/why-do-we-need-to-pick-litter
Spring Litter Pick – Saturday 4 April, 2025
Previously led by members of the Rampton Village Hall Management Committee, this spring’s event took place on Saturday 5 April and was led by Sustainable Rampton. The sun was shining and it was good to relax afterwards with friends and neighbours, with a well deserved cup of tea and cake at the village hall.
17 litter heroes, including 4 under 18s, collected 10 bags of rubbish – we even cleared half-way along the Rampton-Cottenham cycle path! As usual, red bull cans were a particular feature together with beer cans, bottles, food wrappers, several hub caps and, most concerning, 13 canisters of nitrous oxide – some of which were still full. The council collected everything the following Monday.
