GREEN-FINGERED residents and the family owners of a Pembrokeshire retirement park are celebrating after a series of victories in two environmental award schemes.
Shillingford Park in the village of Kilgetty near Saundersfoot has for the seventh successive year taken the top prize in the business premises category of the Kilgetty in Bloom competition.
It was further honoured with the shield for the best community project in recognition of its own best-kept gardens.
In addition, Kilgetty in Bloom judges gave awards to the individual gardens of many residents in various categories of the competition.
In the second environmental triumph, Shillingford was named as a winner of the prestigious David Bellamy Conservation award at its top gold level for the eighth consecutive year.
It is one of only a handful of residential parks in the UK to have achieved the award.
Park owners Graham and Sonia Evans, said Professor Bellamy, were fully deserving of the honour thanks to a long list of green initiatives taken with the support of park residents
Shillingford’s 37 park homes are set in picturesque landscaped grounds which attract a wide variety of resident and visiting birds including buzzards, red kites, sparrow hawks, partridges, gold finches and blue tits.
Bird and bat boxes are placed throughout the grounds, along with insect hotels.
In his report, Professor Bellamy praised the planting of many pollen-rich flowers at Shillingford which provide vital foraging for honey bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Graham and Sonia’s bee-friendly measures at Shillingford also won the couple a special commendation in the award scheme for helping to protect the endangered insects.
David Bellamy also congratulated the park on minimising energy use, and harvesting rainwater.
Graham, a practising chartered surveyor and auctioneer, developed and opened the park in 2002 on land he owned, part of which included the cattle market which Graham had run for many years previously..
He said that everyone was delighted with both the David Bellamy and Kilgetty in Bloom awards:
“I think that all our residents here deserve to share the credit for these recent accolades, and their enthusiastic support for all our various projects is invaluable,” he said.
“We have always considered ourselves very lucky to live and work in the beautiful part of Wales, and the park attracts many like-minded people here.
“We all think it’s wonderful to protect the natural world are being supported by someone like David Bellamy,” added Graham.
There is more information about the park on its website at www.shillingfordpark.co.uk