Fish ‘gifts’ not welcome in village pond


RESIDENTS are being asked not to put their surplus garden fish into the pond on Bearsted village green. The parish council has just spent more


than £2,700 emptying and cleaning out the pond, which had become overgrown with plants andweed – and over-runwith preda- tory fish.


Ecological surveys last year revealed a number of carp and goldfish living in the pond – almost certainly de- posited by local residents – which were damaging the natural habitat. The spread of aquatic plants,


weed and bulrushes were also choking the pond, putting in- creasing demands on the water supply. As part of the clean-up process,


carp and goldfish were removed and given to local householders


CELEBRITY chef Richard Phillips could soon be cooking up his Michelin-starred magic at Hollingbourne’s The Wind- mill restaurant and pub. Phillips, whose company Kentish Dining Rooms has just parted company with Chapel Down Winery in Tenterden, runs several local restaurants, including the Hengist at Ayles- ford and Thackerays in Tun- bridgeWells. Enterprise Inns, owners of the 16th century pub in Eyhorne


with garden ponds – and the council do not want to see them making their way back. Cllr Jon Hughes, Bearsted’s environment committee vice-chairman, said: “We shall be asking any local people who are on the move to take their fish with them – not to dump them in the pond. “We know of cases in the past where peo-


ple have put fish in the pond when they have grown too big for their own, or when


the fish have bred and they have too many. We also know that people have put fish in the pond when they have sold up and moved away. They might think they are doing the village a favour but, in fact, the opposite is the case. “The pond is a magnet for frogs, dragon-


Water features usage bills look ‘leaky’ COUNCILLORS are to query the cost of Bearsted’s water bills. The parish has received a bill for £249 for filling up the village


pond, following the recent clean-up. However, it has also received a standing charge of £27.47 for


the village fountain, which is also on The Green. But the fountain has hardly been used in recent years. The council has already requested that the water meter for


the fountain be removed and Cllr Jon Hughes agreed to make in- quiries about both bills and get them adjusted accordingly.


TV chef in frame to spin ‘sales’ at The Windmill


Street (pictured), confirmed there had been a lot of interest in the £32,000 a year lease and that they were close to signing a deal with a new tenant. Ideally, the pub/restaurant


chain was seeking “a new oper- ator with awealth of experience in developing a food-led pub, with sound commercial busi- ness acumen and good market- ing/promotion capabilities”. TheWindmill has been closed


since autumn 2011, with the previous tenants claiming busi-


ness had been battered by months of roadworks. However, it is understood that


the TV chef, who makes regular appearances on programmes such as Saturday Kitchen and Ready, Steady, Cook, was a front-runner in the race for the GradeIIlistedpub,asthe Downs Mail went to press. The pub is currently shrouded


in scaffolding and undergoing a major refurbishment, and being repainted both outside and in, ready for a spring reopening.


Phillips earned his first Michelin star before the age of 30 at Thackerays, which he ac- quired in 2002. He took over the Hengist two years later and the Pearson’s Arms, Whitstable, in 2010. His fine dining enterprise at the Chapel Down Winery closed in January this year.


flies and other wildlife and is part of the charm of Bearsted Green.” Expert contractors Mainstream Fisheries Ltd carried out the pond-clearing exercise just as the snows fell in early February. Now the council is to seek ad-


vice from the Medway Valley Conservation Group on how to care for its remaining bulrushes. It is also looking into the idea of erecting information boards around the pond, with details of flora and fauna – and fish – that can be seen in the pond.


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk


East 9


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