ADDERS, a drowning pool and a danger of teenagers turning the Pewsey balancing pond area into a meeting place was raised at the parish council meeting last Tuesday.

The item on the agenda concerned Wessex Water’s proposal to turn the land around the pond over to the council for use as a public area.

Cllr Terry Eyles reported on the idea to a meeting which initially led to confusion and two separate votes and eventually a decision to report further on the plan.

The main issue was over the potential cost to the council if the balancing pond area became the responsibly of parishioners since Wessex Water would continue to own the land and pond. The pond is a safety valve in the event of flooding taking excess water from the river. It is fenced off and lies next to land owned by the council but is easily accessed from the road via a path and is next to the railway.

Cllr Peter Deck said: “We have a lot of public spaces where people can walk and see nature in Pewsey. I don’t see any need to open up the balancing pond for people to walk around at an extra cost to the council. I see a risk in it as there is a play park next to it for very young children and if the kids are there it forms a risk.”

There were other concerns from Cllr Deck who said the pond had been very badly looked after by the water company over the years.

A debate took place with some councillors saying the council “should walk away” from the idea of taking on the maintenance of the land around the pond. The danger of adders living the woods was mentioned as was the fear teenagers would use the area for meetings. Others thought the idea had merit and would add to Pewsey’s green public spaces.

Cllr Eyles proposed a vote to reject the idea which was defeated by 7-10 while a second proposal to investigate further the associated costs was passed 13-4.