The Birth of the New Pond Dipping Platform

Holly and Colin

Holly Reeves (TAG Farnborough) and Colin Gray (FPS)

Cathy Holden writes:

The brand new dipping platform at Fleet Pond’s Hemelite Bay proved to be one of the highlights of the recent Wildlife Day event. From its official opening it was packed with families the whole day.

The Fleet Pond Society ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ team of volunteers carried out the construction led by Terry Austin, Vice Chairman of Fleet Pond Society (FPS).

Terry said: ‘This was not an easy task but a very satisfying one as it was built to commemorate forty years of volunteering at the Pond. The frame of the old jetty proved very difficult to remove having sunk deep into the mud and involved us spending a lot of time in our waders, chest deep in the water.’

A grant organised through the Rushmoor Environment Fund, from the Farnborough Airport Community Environment Fund enabled the Society to buy the necessary materials and have the jetty framework constructed. From their site:

For every take-off or landing at Farnborough airport, the community environmental fund receives money to help support local projects. The airport pays a levy of £2 for every take-off or landing or £5 if the aircraft is a Boeing business jet or an Airbus A310 corporate jet. This money goes into the community environmental fund, which we manage.

The Society were delighted to welcome Holly Reeves, the Environment Management Assistant for TAG Farnborough Airport to cut the swan decorated tape and declare the jetty open (see pictures above and below).

Holly and Colin 2

Colin Gray, Chairman of FPS, said: ‘We are very grateful to Rushmoor Environment Fund for sponsoring this project. It is a fitting memorial to the Society’s 40th year.’

Wildlife Day Platform 2016

Adults and children enjoying the new platform on Wildlife Day 2016

Ed. Here’s a series of photos that gives an idea of all the hard work and planning that went into constructing the new jetty. It also provides an impressive example of how FPS provides substantial and long lasting benefits to visitors to Fleet Pond.

We are a registered charity and your financial support would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to contribute you can make an online donation (see tab above) or you can join the Society to also receive a very attractive and informative newsletter (see tab above).

We hope you enjoy the new jetty in your walks around the Pond!

2016-05-13_jetty 02s

Planning the construction on the ground

2016-05-15_jetty 05s

Getting the foundations right

2016-05-19_jetty 07s

Putting in the planking

2016-05-30_jetty 09s

The impressive finished product

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