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Innovative conservation initiative wins regional award

03/12/07

Pharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim, was presented with the Royal Horticultural Society’s regional award for Best Water Conservation Initiative following the success of the “Grey Water” scheme that supported Bracknell’s Britain in Bloom entry this year.

The Grey Water initiative was devised by Bracknell’s Environment Partnership Group – which includes representatives from the Council, community groups, local businesses and other agencies. The goal was to reduce the amount of wastewater produced in the borough and cut down on the mains water consumption of Bracknell’s award winning floral displays. Local business Boehringer Ingelheim was quick to offer its wastewater and engineering skills to the project and received the support of the Environment Agency. Peter Stacey at Boehringer Ingelheim comments: “As a major business and employer in Bracknell and a member of the Environmental Partnership, we believe we are an integral part of the community and we are very proud of the Grey Water scheme, which is one of our major initiatives. We also dedicate specific days throughout the year which our staff are encouraged to spend doing community or voluntary work. Through this and many other ways, we believe we are putting something back into the community.”

The award was presented to Peter Stacey and Christ Wiltcher of Boehringer Ingelheim by representatives of the Bracknell Flowers team, comprising Bracknell Regeneration Partnership (BRP), Bracknell Forest Borough Council (The Council) and Bracknell Town Council.

Steve McKenna, Landscape Manager at the Council, said: “It’s great when partnership working helps us to overcome difficult problems and this particular project is an outstanding example. With Boehringer Ingelheim’s support we have successfully solved one of the biggest challenges faced by the landscape team. I would like to thank the Environment Partnership and particularly Boehringer Ingelheim for all their hard work and innovation.”

Helen Barnet, Marketing Manager at BRP, said: “The Bracknell Flowers campaign relies heavily on team work in order to put together a programme that blends creative floral displays with strong permanent landscaping to really bring the town centre to life with colour and structure. This award sets an excellent example for how well we work together as a team in Bracknell achieve great things. The ground breaking “Grey Water” project allowed the Council and BRP to continue to provide high quality floral displays across the borough in a more sustainable way, whatever the weather!”