Spalding volunteers close to throwing in the towel due ‘constant battle’ with vandalism at Vernatt’s Nature Reserve

Volunteers who transformed a grot spot into a thriving nature reserve are considering giving up due to the ‘constant battle’ with vandalism.

Vernatt’s Nature Reserve, on the border of Spalding and Pinchbeck, is now popular with families and dog walkers thanks to the thousands of hours put in by volunteers over the last six years - which is a far cry from the litter strewn drug and dogging den that it was once.

Years of planting, litter picking - and not to mention clearing up human poos - had never dinted volunteer Pete Boekestyn’s enjoyment and determination to make this a popular place with families.

Until now.

The man who helped to kick-start the reserve’s re-birth is thinking about throwing in the towel after the latest bout of mindless vandalism in which seven trees were spray painted silver along with the words ‘Wookey’ on a path.

Mr Boekestyn said: “Two weeks ago, people were say how beautiful the snow drops were. Now there are seven trees with have been sprayed with silver paint, and when I went into the Peace Garden to rebuild some willow, they have smashed it up.

“It is a kick in the teeth. It’s a constant battle with vandalism. There is not a lot of pleasure in it any more.

“I am personally very close to throwing in the towel.

“It can grind you down. It has got to me far worse than the others. I am at the end of my tether with it all.”

The reserve has been targeted by vandals over the years with idiots spray painting on a historic bridge and an earlier incident in which signs were damaged.

There have also been incidents of trees being felled to make dens and thugs ripping down bird and insect boxes.

Recently, school books were found burned at the reserve.

Volunteers cannot remove the silver spray paint without damaging the trees which have been vandalised in the latest incident. But they have been able to get rid of the ‘Wookey Wookey’ tags on a path.

Mr Boekestyn said: “It is soul destroying to see the vandalism.

“I don’t have to go down there, there are other things I could be doing. Six years down the line with the project, I feel less confident about it. I feel there is less external help.”

Mr Boekestyn says volunteers are reporting incidents to the police but no action seems to be taken.

He also feels that there is now not as much support from officers at South Holland District Council, which owns the site, but did praise Marc Whelan for helping o get a footbridge at the site repaired.

A police spokesman says there will be more patrols around the reserve.

She said: “We are aware of antisocial behaviour (ASB) at Vernatt’s Nature Reserve. We are working in partnership with South Holland District Council (SHDC) and have recently had a site survey conducted by one of our Police Crime Prevention Advisors. Their findings have been passed back to the council.

“Patrols will take place to deter any illegal behaviour, and we would encourage anyone who witnesses any ASB of criminal activity to report it to police at the time it takes place.

“This reporting helps us to build a broader picture of any issues affecting a certain area, and means we allocate suitable resources to investigate, or put measures in place to prevent incidents occurring. In the meantime, any graffiti or environmental issues can be reported to SHDC.”

Mr Boekestyn is also disappointed that Lincolnshire County Council is no longer resurfacing its track which runs behind the hospital down to Enterprise Way. He says that section is not useable during wet weather due to the ruts and mud.

Richard Fenwick, Head of Highways Service at LCC said: "This section of road in question is designated a 'green lane' and, as it has that classification it means that we don't have the budget to surface this cut-through in a more conventional way such as we would have were it a more standard established Tarmac-topped road.

"However, we will take a look at this specifically and see if there's any scope for it to be included in another programme of funding. It is not something that we as Highways would be able to spend money on at the moment at the expense of other maintenance work like potholes and broken roads which has to dominate the work we are currently delivering across the county."