Press Archive

North Lincolnshire's Top Community Revealed

North Lincolnshire’s 2005 Village of the Year has been revealed. The village gaining the prestigious title this year, having beaten off close competition from a shortlist of four other communities, is Burton upon Stather.

The competition judges communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT). Judges were impressed by the thoroughness of Burton upon Stather’s entry, as well as the very high level of community spirit that was found to be evident in the village.

Thanks to competition support from Defra (Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs) this year, there is £500 prize money specifically to reward villages in the Building Community Life category of the competition. £350 of this has been awarded to Burton upon Stather as the winner, with £150 going to the village of Wrawby as runner up.

Burton upon Stather will now go forward to represent Northern Lincolnshire in the English Calor Village of the Year^® competition with the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of the £36,000 prize fund. Burton upon Stather will compete in the North England region of the competition against villages from Cheshire, Cumbria, Durham, East Riding of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, Redcar & Cleveland, Tees Valley and Yorkshire.

The Northern Lincolnshire Best Kept Village and Small Towns competition is ongoing, and a total of 16 communities from an original tally of 37 have been shortlisted to go through to the second round of judging. The competition separates communities into categories for Small Villages, Large Villages, Towns and Past Winners, as well as providing prizes for the Best Public House, Best Playground, Best Churchyard, Best Community Planting and Best Environmental Project.

The villages and small towns through to the second round are as follows –

Alkborough, Ashby cum Fenby, Burton upon Stather, Elsham, Flixborough, Goxhill, Irby upon Humber, Haxey, Hibaldstow, Humberston, Messingham, Saxby all Saints, Scawby, Ulceby, Waltham, Westwoodside and Wroot.

Both the Village of the Year and Best Kept competitions are organised by Jenny Haynes on behalf of Northern Lincolnshire CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) and sponsored by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), with additional support from local sponsors Fenland Leisure, the Scunthorpe and Grimsby Telegraph, Frosts’ Garden Centre, Oaklands Nurseries and Stephen Smith’s Garden Centre.

Competition organiser Jenny Haynes commented: “We are confident that Burton upon Stather can do really well at national level. Its community spirit is outstanding and residents are enthusiastic and motivated. We wish the community the best of luck with the next stage of the competition. I am also looking forward to seeing the results of the second round of judging in the Best Kept competition. Standards have been high this year which, on top of a record 36 communities entering, has made for an excellent competition.”

The winners of the Best Kept competition will be announced during September and a formal presentation event for winners of both the Best Kept and Village of the Year competitions will be held in early November. For further information, please contact Jenny Haynes on 01652 618595, or email jenny.haynes@btinternet.com

Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR Ltd
tel: 01223 845781 (direct) / 0161 817 4200 (main office)
email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk