Wildlife pond advice please - Significant Project

Welcome to the forums, Yawningdog.

What do the local council planning department know about ponds nothing, and I would say were there is water this will attract all kinds of wildlife including the bugs that we all love.

Thanks Jim.... Your photos are absolutely amazing by the way.

Guy

What a bizarre argument. A bird bath on a patio brings in birds, feeders stuck to windows bring delight to many people watching the antics of bluetits, hedgehogs trundle round at our back door and plenty of insects fly in and out, so why on earth would anyone think wildlife will avoid a pond just because it's near the house? I even had a pair of frogs up to no good in our front porch yesterday!

Hi. I put a pond in the garden a few years back. It's within 10 yards of the house and the garden path passes right by it. There is also a security light in the garden which comes on with a motion sensor. The pond is teaming with life from the microscopic right through to Frogs, even though there isn't any other standing or running water within 1/2 mile around. Also the birds use it to bathe in. If left relatively undisturbed, a pond will attract more life than any other feature you could possibly have in the garden, regardless of how close it is to the house.

Hello there, I agree with all the above comments; we also had a large pond added to our garden back in 2011/12 with bog garden which adjoined our patio and was close to our house;  and only due to the pond being there, encouraged an extra abundance of birds, wildlife and pond creatures including dragonflies, damselflies, frogs etc… and a semi- resident grey wagtail which would not have been there but for the pond/water feature. On different occasions, because of the pond we saw birds such as Willow Warbler, Redwings and Crossbills which came to bathe or drink; a Kingfisher also called in on two occasions that we saw. It is a proven fact that a pond added to the garden is very helpful to nature creating additional habitat. We had security lights and night lights which had no impact on the wildlife that used the pond. Personally, I don't think the council have a valid argument so good luck with your application.      

Thank you Guy.

You forgot the Mallards that called in Hazel, and lots of others that you will be remembering and one you just could not get rid of :)

Too many pond visitors to count Jim so I only highlighted some of the wildlife visitors ! It was great for dragonflies, beetles, damselflies so can only be a good thing as it proved the pond was healthy - and required - the council need to include bio-diversity in their investigations.

Thank you all very much for your valuable feedback. Clearly, the inclusion of a wildlife pond INCREASES the amount of wildlife.

The council's argument is really annoying, but it is obscured by generic policy and politics rather than common sense. Even their own landscape officer and Natural England are supporting us. So, fingers crossed.

Guy

My modest pre-fabricated pond only four foot away from kitchen window in tiny strip of garden & beside access path for LPG cylinders boasts 4 mating pairs of frogs + 4 singles & three batches of spawn this year already ... multiple frogs + two newts last year!

Doesn't have to be big or secluded!