Horrors! The bowling greens are going brown!
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The Ranger’s local water company, Southern Water, is risking the wrath of the local cricketers and bowling clubs:
Southern Water is to apply to the Government for permission to extend its ban on the use of water to cover the irrigation of parks and sports fields. The company, which supplies parts of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, already has a hosepipe ban in place and will now ask DEFRA if it can extend this beyond domestic users.
The Ranger was surprised to learn that the ban didn’t apply to such places anyway. It only seems fair. What is worth remembering is where much of the water comes from – out of our streams and rivers, and to the deteriment of the natural ecosystems in them. If water is scarce then it dosn’t really seem right to damage river ecology to keep sports pitches going. Many parks and horticultural bodies are already taking steps to plant drought resistant and sustainable planting. Even here on the Isle of Wight the famous hanging baskets are likely to be replaced with more innovative and less water-demanding planting – and about time too! What really interests the Ranger is whether or not this would apply to golf courses too. Now that would be a radical – and welcome – move!