21st May 2011 - It is now 8 years since the Cowleaze Meadow project was first mentioned as part of our Village Plan. Dedicated hard work by a team of volunteers have steered the project from the initial idea from planning to planting, for fear of missing someone out here I will only mention the team as a whole.

In declaring Cowleaze open Andrew Humpherys thanked everyone and said the whole project has been funded by local businesses, individual doners not forgetting the National Lottery who was the major sponsor, although Cowleaze is the responsibility of the Parish Council to date no Parish Council funds have been used.

Our Grand Opening was held on Saturday 21st May 2011, which gave us an opportunity to show the village what we have achieved, and to thank everyone who has helped to bring this project to its phase one completion.

This project was initiated as part of the Parish Plan in 2005, by Debbie Welch, Marcus Jubb and Jane Neiman. They, with the assistance of Parish Councillors and local MP David Laws, persuaded Wessex Water to grant a 25year lease to the Parish Council. The group expanded to include several newcomers to the village, and we have all worked over the years to produce the present area for local use. Due to its former function as a sewage works, much initial testing had to be completed, to ensure public safety. We have more to do, to develop a hay meadow, and encourage more wildlife to colonise the site. We hope to have some community events in the next few months so that people will feel encouraged to join in our activities.

Financial help has been provided in large part by the Big Lottery Fund via Groundworks, but also by Somerset County Council, Somerset District Council, the Parish Council and various individuals and Parish groups.

Our Project was opened by Andrew Humpherys, recently retired Chairman of the Parish Council, who unveiled our new Notice Board, and planted a tree in the orchard area. During the afternoon the school performed a maypole dance, and we were then entertained by Jeroka, a local ceilidh band , and Ian and partner of US. We all relaxed in the sunshine and had an enjoyable afternoon.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported our efforts in any way they can, and hope that villagers will be using the area for years to come.