THE public now has the chance to help the Headley Down Nature Reserve Trust earn a Countryside Award.

Voting has begun to decide the winner of the Hampshire’s Choice Award in the 13th annual contest organised by the Hampshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

Having visited the 15 finalists in the four main categories – Community and Voluntary, Young People, Making Places, and Rural Enterprise – the judges met on July 30 to pick four winners.

But all 15 are eligible for Hampshire’s Choice. Each person choosing their favourite project gets one vote, and the winner will receive £500 toward its work.

Headley Down Nature Reserve Trust – formed in 2016 by a small group of Headley Down residents – is a finalist in the Community and Voluntary section for its efforts to transform a landfill site into Headley Down Nature Reserve.

Next to the Heatherlands Estate playing fields and backing onto the Land of Nod, the two-and-a-half acre site had been abandoned to invasive undergrowth and fly-tippers. The trust wants to make it a haven for native wild flora and fauna. There are now pathways, hedges and clearings, and at the end of ‘Wildflower Way’ is a bench for visitors to enjoy the view of the nature reserve.

Dee Haas, who chairs CPRE (Hampshire), said: “The Countryside Awards are a real celebration of all the hard work and dedication of so many people working to support or enjoy the countryside in different ways.

“It is genuinely heartening to see the scope of work going on throughout Hampshire by people with similar values and ideals to CPRE Hampshire; protecting, building and sustaining a thriving, diverse community and living countryside for us all to share and enjoy. I look forward to seeing who our final winners are.”

The deadline is September 7.