Pete the Pond is a local legend who has worked tirelessly for many years to help sustain and restore many of our local aquatic ecosystems, especially ponds, which are critical to the health of local nature and wildlife. In the process he has built up a reference collection of aquatic plants in his back garden which is unique in its range and diversity and is now an immensely valuable asset in maintaining local biodiversity. But now, according to a newspaper report, he has been ordered by Wealden District Council to clear this aquatic collection from his garden within an unrealistically short time-span of 28 days. In response, Wealden District Council claim that he has not been ordered to clear his garden within 28 days, but that he was told to respond to the council's concerns within 28 days, as the council claimed that Pete the Pond's garden was part of a commercial enterprise, was untidy, and was the subject of possible environmental health concerns.

Eastbourne and District Friends of the Earth has attempted to gain clarification from the council about what evidence, if any, that the council has for making these claims, but has so far not received any evidence at all. Meanwhile, Pete the Pond has provided extensive explanations to indicate that he is not selling his garden plants commercially but has an extensive collection of aquatic plants and associated materials in his garden for personal scientific study, for supporting his well-being, and to provide an ecological resource to share with others in order to support aquatic biodiversity generally. He does run a business that has his home as a registered office, but his commercial activities - mainly building ponds - are outside the home.

It is the conclusion of Eastbourne and District Friends of the Earth, based on extensive knowledge over many years of Pete the Pond's activities, and from checking with the many local people who know Pete well, that assumptions have apparently been made by Wealden District Council that appear not to be based upon a proper appreciation of the aquatic collection and the varied reasons for Pete's personal use of it, as well as an apparently unwarranted conflation of that use with the fact that Pete happens to have a business that involves dealing with aquatic ecosystems generally.  It is this kind of misunderstanding that could be cleared up by a thorough review by Wealden District Council of its current stance towards Pete's garden and his use of it.