Winners of the 2007 Environment Awards

A wildlife conservation centre near Holt, a new birdwatching and visitor centre on the North Norfolk coast, a school grounds project, and the conservation of the village common at Southrepps have been rewarded with North Norfolk District Council Environment Awards.

Two other projects were praised in the scheme's open category: the visitor centre at Pensthorpe, and a community composting enterprise at Kelling.

The winners of this year's Environment Awards were announced today [12 July] at a ceremony at Felbrigg Hall near Cromer. They are:

SCHOOL (category supported by the North Norfolk News and Dereham and Fakenham Times) - Erpingham Primary: The school has grounds which include a vegetable garden (which helps the children learn about business as well as natural sciences), a pond and a quiet area that are all extensively used for learning.

COMMUNITY (category supported by North Norfolk Radio) - Southrepps Commons Trust: A marshland area where scenic walks are provided thanks to local fundraising and management.

GREEN BUILD (category supported by the CSV Action Desk at BBC Radio Norfolk) - Cley Visitor Centre: The Norfolk Wildlife Trust's centre overlooking the Cley marshes was built using 'green' methods and features.

SMALL BUSINESS - Natural Surroundings: This wildflower nursery at Bayfield has been developed to improve habitats and visitor facilities.

OPEN CATEGORY - Pensthorpe Visitor Centre, winner of the John Sweeney Award for the project most deserving of a special mention in the annual award scheme. The remodelling of the visitor facilities at the sanctuary near Fakenham involved using environmentally-friendly materials, and features a new recycling regime and a range of locally-sourced products in the shop. It also makes important international contributions to breeding programmes.

Special mention was also made of the Kelling Community Compost scheme, through which people can take their compostable waste to a local farm, where it is composted for use in a garden growing vegetables for an organic food box enterprise.

• For more information, contact Hetty Selwyn on 01692 400937.

ENDS