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Great Green Bedwyn rain gardens
About the project
Great Green Bedwyn worked in partnership with the rivers charity Action for the River Kennet (ARK) to prevent flooding and river pollution by creating rain gardens in the village. This was the first project of it's kind in the UK working with individual home owners. It will help increase Great Bedwyn's flood protection whilst also improving drought resilience.
Getting involved
People living in Great Bedwyn could access funding, training and practical support to help them use rainwater from their roof in the garden. This could be by creating a rain garden, or adding rain planters and water butts - or even all three! This prevents rainwater entering the sewage system and reduces water pollution and flooding.
The project is now closed to new participants but please get in touch if you'd like to be added to a waiting list for similar future projects, or access the resources below.
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Project Aims
Rivers need clean, constant flowing water to thrive, and that starts the moment a drop of rain lands on your roof or in your garden. By building rain gardens we will:
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Reduce pollution by keeping rain water out of sewers
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Reduce village flooding
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Reduce outdoor water use in summer
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Have more plants, healthier soil and more wildlife in our gardens
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Create beautiful rain gardens to show to others
Our target was to disconnect downpipes from 2,000 m2 of roof area in Great Bedwyn from up to 20 homes, the school and other public buildings.
project progress
With support from Great Green Bedwyn ARK have;
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Delivered three meetings to share this project with local residents and invite them to get involved.
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Attended the Great Bedwyn school Green Fair with a rain garden demonstration.
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Held a rain planter workshop and installed the first two rain planters as part of this - you can see these at 10 Farm Lane.
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Carried out site visits and completed site reports for more than 20 homeowners with recommendations of the measures that would work best for their gardens.
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Created a rain garden at the Great Bedwyn surgery and installed a rain planter at the village hall.
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Created a rain garden at Great Bedwyn school.
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Helped 23 participants add rain planters, rain gardens and water butts to their gardens.
Great Green Bedwyn rain gardens is funded by Thames Water
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