Expensive Best Kept Village competition to be absorbed into Community Awards

South Kesteven’s Best Kept Village competition will be rebranded and absorbed into its community awards in a bid to save cash.

Council leaders said the competition, which costs the authority just under £6,000 a year, was no longer viable in its current form.

Instead, the money will go to a Best Village Community Award category in the annual SK Community awards.

Councillor Annie Mason told the The Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee: “The best kept village competition as it stands gives a sense of pride to local residents by allowing them to showcase the areas in which they live.

“Whilst this is still an ambition of the council, it is important that we ensure that we are allocating resources appropriately.”

The competition will also be opened to all villages to take part.

The Best Kept Villages competition currently hands out up to £400 prize money and gold litter bins to the winners.

Winners of the community awards however traditionally receive certificates and crystal trophies.

During the meeting on Thursday, councillors called for the prize to be a permanent marker of a villages victory instead.

Committee chairman Councillor Sarah Trotter has been a judge on the community awards and praised it as “brilliant”.

However, she said: “I’m not so keen on the paper certificate. Like I said, not every village has a pub or a village hall and where does that bit of paper end up?

She estimated the value of the trophy as around £50, but said: “could we not have something more to put in the ground?”

“It’s nice for villages to get money, but I think they’re more bothered about saying they won it so any walkers that go by can see it.”

Other suggestions included widening the scope to include urban areas, while some were concerned around how people would see the re-brand.

The event was previously managed by the Countryside Charity on behalf of the council, until funding came to an end in 2019.

Under the proposed changes, villages may need to submit photo evidence to prevent an employee from having to visit them all.

There could be a registration fee to reduce the number of entrants and recoup some of the costs.

The SK Community Awards cost £5,000 overall last year, including the presentation night, meaning the council would save money overall.

Another option would be stopping the competition altogether, although this isn’t recommended.

Many other local authorities stopped Best Kept Village competitions when the Countryside Charity ceased in 2019, according to the report.

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