A West Yorkshire community angling club has reeled in a second grant from a renewable energy firm to help it further improve the facilities it can offer to local people.
Parlington Angling Club has used a £2,100 grant awarded from Banks Renewables’ Hook Moor Wind Farm Community Fund to build a series of seven wooden platforms around the smaller of the two ponds that it uses on the Parlington Estate near Aberford, to the east of Leeds.
The two metre by 1.5 metre platforms are big enough to accommodate anglers, their equipment and a young family member, and also make it easier for some of the club’s older members to access the waterside.
Alongside this, a new stone pathway has been laid down to make it easier for anglers to make their way around the pond when the ground is wet and muddy.
Founded in 1995, Parlington Angling Club has around 60 members who are all based within a five-mile radius of its two ponds, with different generations of the same family regularly fishing together.
The club used a £1,500 grant from the Hook Moor Wind Farm Community Fund last year to make repairs to the fabric of the smaller pond, so that it retains the depth of water required by both fish and anglers.
The first grant also supported the restocking of the two ponds with around 200 new fish, with breeding stocks of tench and perch now well established alongside the carp, roach and rudd that were already inhabiting them.
Maintenance is carried out by club members on a regular basis to ensure the local environment remains in the best possible condition.
Terry Beaumont, treasurer and membership secretary at Parlington Angling Club, says: “The support we had from Banks Renewables last year has made a big difference to the environment we can offer to our members, and we’re really grateful to be getting their backing once again.
“In the winter months, the ground around the pond can get pretty wet and muddy, which isn’t ideal for our older members or those with more limited mobility, so putting the stone path in place will make things easier for them while also protecting the surrounding grass.
“We already have fishing platforms surrounding our bigger pond and introducing them around the smaller pond is really improving anglers’ experience with us.
“We quite often have different generations of the same family coming along to spend time together by the water, so the platforms also mean that children can now sit next to their dads or grandads in much more comfort.
“Our members put in a lot of work through the year to look after the local environment and having Banks’ support in making these various improvements is a great encouragement to everyone.”
Banks Renewables owns and operates the Hook Moor wind farm, which sits close to the A1/M1 junction and which generated enough renewable energy in the company’s last financial year to meet the annual energy requirements of around 9,000 homes.
It is also behind the planned Barnsdale Energy Park, a consented solar energy scheme between Kippax and Allerton Bywater to which Banks is currently looking to add a containerised battery energy storage system which could store up to 40MW of electricity, which is enough to power around 48,000 homes for two hours during peak times.
Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at The Banks Group, adds: “Parlington Angling Club brings different generations together to spend quality time in a beautiful location, and we’re very pleased to be helping to further improve what’s available there.
“The Hook Moor Wind Farm Community Fund was designed to improve the facilities and opportunities available to local people over the long term, and it’s great to see the many different ways that it’s doing so around the area.”
Anyone from a community close to a Banks Group project who is interested in applying for funding from the Banks Community Fund should first contact the fund manager via fundmanager@bankscommunityfund.org.uk or on 0191 378 6342 before applying for a grant to check if their group or project is eligible.