The Village Pond is owned and managed on behalf of the whole community by Pirton Parish Council. Over many years it has been managed and maintained as a natural pond, with the Parish Council taking advice from the Countryside Management Service, the Herts and Middx Wildlife Trust, and recently from independent experts who helped us improve the the natural balance of the pond water. (Particular thanks for that project go to Tom Gammell). This means that, unless there is some overriding legal reason to interfere with the wildlife that we are trying to attract for the benefit of us all, no one should be taking anything from, or putting anything in, on or around the pond, without the Parish Council's consent. Concerns that a duck is not a good enough mother, or that the weather is cold for the ducklings, are not legal reasons for interference, however well meant they are. Neither the ducks, nor the family of Moorhens who also live on and around the pond, are domesticated in any way. They are wild birds. Please do not feed the ducks. As the notice by the pond says (yes, I know it needs replacing !) putting food out for the ducks makes life too easy and they stop foraging and lose their skills. It also means that they, and the ducklings, stray into the road and into the path of traffic. The family of Moorhens should not be fed either. Diane Burleigh OBE Pirton Parish Councillor