Firstly, A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who attended the Quiz Night on 18th November and / or supported Sarah Whittaker’s Bags2School collection a couple of days later. We would like to extend our sincere and unending thanks to Sarah for all her help, enthusiasm and hard work. Put together, these two fundraisers swelled the PfP coffers by nearly £700. Great effort, thank you, everyone!
Many of you will have seen that we updated our GoFundMe page last weekend – I’ll explain why in a moment – and we’ve already seen some mind-bendingly generous donations. Each and every contribution, no matter how big or small, is received with heartfelt gratitude. This is an expensive, financially stressful time-of-the-year, and we don’t take for granted the inexhaustible generosity of this special community. THANK YOU!
Talking of money, we’d like to explain what your fundraising efforts have already delivered for the campaign. THE MONEY YOU HAVE RAISED AND DONATED HAS MADE A VAST, TANGIBLE, CRITICAL DIFFERENCE.
At the time of writing, the campaign has raised and spent (in a very careful, thoughtful, measured way) a little over £8000. Most of that has been generated by our fundraising events and donations via GoFundMe. Again, thank you!
We have spent relatively modest sums on, amongst other things, room hire, banners, print design, filmmaking, and ecological services. As you can imagine, there have been lots of minor(-ish) expenses which have simply been covered by members of the Steering Group, and that’s fine.
The vast, vast majority of our expenditure thus far – in excess of £7000 – has gone on the expert legal services of Tim Taylor at Khift Ltd. Crucially, Tim’s legal advice provided the basis for our ACV (Asset of Community Value) success, and our detailed and comprehensive response to the LiveWest Planning Application. Throughout the campaign, we have frequently called upon Tim’s expertise, and he has provided invaluable focus and clarity. Tim has also submitted forceful correspondence and legal opinions to Somerset Council on our behalf. These interventions have been hugely important and, we believe, will play a key role in the decision-making process which lies ahead.
WE HAVE A BIG MONTH OR SO AHEAD. The PfP team is preparing for the probability that the LiveWest Planning Application will go before the Planning East Committee, in Shepton Mallet, at 2pm, on Tuesday 9th January 2023. We won’t know for certain until December 29th, I’m afraid, at which point we’ll immediately be in touch again. We’re tipping you off now, though, because we are once again asking for the community’s support.
Please, please, please keep that day free in your diary if you possibly can! We firmly believe that a strong attendance is going to be absolutely vital. We need to clearly demonstrate….again…..how much this community cares about our precious fields! THIS IS OUR MOMENT! Our aim is to have at least 200 supporters there in person: can you help us please?!
Not only will the next few weeks be busy and stressful; they’ll also be expensive. We will again be leaning heavily on the advice and expertise of Tim Taylor. We are also, at Tim’s suggestion, carefully considering whether to instruct a specialist Barrister, to further advance our legal argument. Additionally, we have instructed First Ecology – a specialist provider of ecological and aboricultural services – to develop our Future for Packsaddle vision. We are determined to put forward a positive alternative which delivers long-lasting, real-world benefits for Climate, Conservation and Community.
These are significant and costly undertakings and it’s for this reason that we have re-doubled our fundraising efforts. If you’re in a position to help during this final push please donate if you can. You can transfer directly to the People for Packsaddle bank account, Acc.No.24205069, Sort Code 80-22-60. Or you can donate via GoFundMe. If you’d like to donate in a different way (eg cash or cheque), please feel free to get in touch.
We have two fundraising events taking place this week:
Saturday 9th December, 11am – 1pm a casual Christmas coffee morning at Selwood Lodge, Leys Lane, kindly hosted by Danny and Pearl Come along, bring festive food or other foodie offerings if you can. If you can avoid driving to this, please do – there’s limited parking, a dead end single track lane with no passing places and hopefully most of us live within walking distance. If you need help getting there please let us know.
Sunday 10th December, 2.30pm a festive get together for carol singing at the play park off Packsaddle Way / Pedlars Grove. Full details here but we hope you can join us for singing, festive food, mulled wine, hot chocolate and lots of community spirit.
As always, please feel free to get in touch if you’ve any questions or suggestions. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your support. We will not give up!
Best regards,
Toby and the PfP Team