A TOWN Councillor has responded to Devizes resident's concerns about the Crammber. 

It comes after the Gazette & Herald reported that there were worries that the pond had become inhabitable for wildlife right now- as the number of swans and other species had been "decimated.’"  

Increased complaints from residents about the state of the pond have come after a van exploded by the water earlier this year.  

READ MORE: Devizes residents fear the Crammer is inhabitable 

Councillor Chris Greenwood was responding to a petition started by Amanda Humphreys, which, at the time of writing, had gathered more than 400 signatures.

The petition is calling for Devizes Town Council to form a working committee, "inviting wildfowl and biodiversity specialists as well as members of the public to ensure that the issue is addressed and plans are made for its long-term management".

The state of the crammer has reportedly been an issue for some time, but Cllr Greenwood believes the matter was accentuated after the van explosion- despite the fact he has spotted some swans slowly returning to the site.  

He said: “Our responsibility is to ensure that the town‘s facilities are cared for and looked after correctly, but there is no standard for the crammer because it’s never been regarded as anything other than a visual amenity.   

“There are so many things that a town council is involved with and has to be responsible for, and the crammer - it is important as a visual amenity, and it’s important it isn’t toxic, but the tiny little bit of fuel oil from the van fire is insignificant in comparison to what’s gone in there over the past 100 years - we used to have steam engines going up and down round there.”  

Looking into the future, it is set to be an expensive venture- which the council is weighing up as to whether or not to invest in.   

Cllr Greenwood said: “We’ve never said it’s going to be a million pounds to drain it, but what we’ve said is that it’s going to cost at least £1million to sort out the practicalities. 

“The total bills for changing it from what it has been over the past 100 years is going to be astronomical, and what we have a responsibility as far as being a council is concerned is to safeguard the public first.   

“If we suddenly whack a great seven-figure sum onto the council tax for this, it’s not going to be viewed very favourably.”  

To view the petition, click here.