Village pond gets top up after wildlife threatened

A pond in an Oxfordshire village - that has been enjoyed by local people for hundreds of years - is being been topped up with water after its low level threatened wildlife.

Widmore Pond in Sonning Common is about the size of six tennis courts and has been in existence since the 17th century. It is home to ducks and fish, including carp and roach.

The parish council commissioned a report last year which said a retirement village being built nearby was affecting the normal flow of water into the pond. The firm behind the development, Inspired Villages Group (IVG), said it is working with the parish council on mitigation.

The pond is at its lowest level than at any other time in living memory.

Sonning Common Parish Council has been monitoring the pond for several years after residents first noticed the water level was lower than usual in November 2024.

Chair Vicky Boorman said "It's much lower now, at this time of year, than we would expect it to be with recent rain.

"People have always taken their children there to feed the ducks, so in living memory, this is an unusual situation."

After six carp were found dead in the pond in June 2025, the council arranged for treated water from Thames Water to be pumped into it.

The council then commissioned an independent hydrological survey from Water Resource Associates, to try and find out the cause of the diminishing water level.

Its report, in December 2025, concluded that after construction of the adjacent retirement village began in November 2023, the pond water level fell and did not recover in the 2023/24 winter.

Widmore Pond is fed by groundwater and direct rainfall.

The survey said the construction of the retirement village had reduced the amount of groundwater entering the pond.

This is due to impermeable surfaces, the diversion of runoff into deep, chalk soakaways and sheet piling around Widmore Spring which had previously added to the groundwater.

The survey also looked at annual rainfall figures from the Cleeve national rainfall station which is closest to the site. It found that mean annual rainfall for 1991-2025 was 695mm.

The dry summer of 2025 was preceded by three very wet years with annual totals averaging 847mm which should have been enough to top up groundwater levels.

In 2025, the parish council had to fill up the pond five times, using 515,000 litres of water.

This time it plans to add water once a week for around two months, putting in about a million litres. On the first day of the work, 142,000 litres was put into the pond, raising the water level by 9cm.

The standpipe hire and licence is costing around £2,000 and IVG has agreed to pay 50%. The developer also contributed £500 to the work last year.

Sonning Common Parish Council chair Vicky Boorman added "We are working with the developer at the moment to try and work out what they can do to mitigate and reduce the impact they've had."

IVG said it "is committed to working with the parish council in relation to concerns about the pond. We supported the hydrological report earlier this year, and have so far contributed to two projects that have seen a significant amount of water added to the pond to increase water levels.

"Throughout the construction of the development, we adhered to the obligations and conditions set out in our planning approval by South Oxfordshire District Council and the Lead Local Flood Authority (Oxfordshire County Council), with regard to the groundwater flow.

"We will continue to work with the council to review water levels. It remains our desire to ensure the pond is preserved, well-maintained, and continues to be an asset to the village and the community, that our residents will be part of".