Campaigne Update - 1st July 2021

As you know Laura Farris has responded to constituents who have been making their objections and concerns known to her via email. We are asking you to write to her to show your support for this opposition campaign using good old-fashioned pen and paper. Volumes of mail delivered to her office will be hard for her office staff to miss and difficult for her to ignore.  So get writing! The more letters she receives the clearer it will be to her that there is overwhelming local opposition to this development. If you do nothing to let her know that YOU oppose this development, then she may assume the opposition is formed of a small minority of the community and not representative of the majority. 

 

It’s important that your MP hears your voice and opposition in your own words. Your letter doesn’t need to say anything other than what you think. You might want to mention all or any of the following, but you may just want her to know in one or two lines that you don’t want to see the green fields to the South of Bucklebury to be concreted over. 

 

-increased traffic

 

-damage to the AONB and all of the ecological damage to the special environment that the AONB is. It’s not just trees, grass and space. It is an area where you can walk in fresh air, hear birdsong and if you are lucky, observe wildlife. It’s the space to breath for us as well as the wildlife who call it home. 

 

- pollution, both from the increased traffic and light pollution. The latter will be a real problem for some of our wildlife species.

 

- lack of infrastructure to support a large new development like medical services, shops etc. 

 

This is not about NIMBYism.  We are seeking to protect green space and the AONB for ourselves, future generations and a host of natural life that depends on it. 

 

Please send your letters to:

 

Laura Farris MP

House of Commons

London SW1A OAA

 

Martin Chillcott of Protect Rural Peterborough, (an opposition group who won their campaign against a planned development of 2500 houses within the Parishes of Castor and Ailsworth) kindly took the time to offer a few thoughts on our own campaign. Whilst he was complimentary about our approach, and in particular about the response we submitted at Stage 1, he said that the support of our MP is vital. He also said that increased publicity would raise our profile and help attract supporting letters of opposition from others equally opposed to the development. So please help us spread the word and please encourage everyone you know to write to Laura Farris.  

 

We have heard that West Berkshire Council is delaying Stage 2, possibly until the autumn. If this is the case, then we will make this work to our advantage by using the time to continue to raise awareness in our own and in the wider communities. The more our numbers swell, the stronger and louder our voice becomes.

 

We thank you for your support.

The Working Group.