I am taking advantage of our second snowfall and the period between Christmas and the New Year to write this Newsletter and think about the year ahead.
Of necessity Planning matters have rather dominated 2017. The Inspector has largely completed his Examination of the CDC Draft Local Plan for the period 2011 to 2031. The Society and the Town Council made representations objecting to the location of proposed new housing. We can do no more and must await the Inspectors Report. We were unable to prevent approval of two developments on the boundary of the Town namely the 40 houses at Aston Road and the 30 at Leasows in Dyers Lane.
On a brighter note we successfully launched our website and its associated Facebook page in October. The Facebook page is currently based on photographs both old and new of our beautiful town. It is updated each week and may include other important information from time to time. ‘Then and Now’ photographs testing your knowledge of locations in Chipping Campden and ‘Events from the Past’ are regular features – please join in by sending your own photographs and comments. It is very early to measure the impact of these projects but the traffic to each site leads us to believe that they will improve the profile of the Society and make it more interesting and accessible to both members and the public. We would welcome comments and suggestions for improvement from any member – please email or write to the Secretary.
In November David Atkinson gave a splendid talk entitled Chipping Campden: A historic built heritage to cherish to a very well attended and appreciative audience. A number of members were unable to attend so David is hoping to repeat it in due course.
Our second talk is on 22 February when John Ellis will be the speaker. John will describe how he got into railways, briefly chug through his career, his derailment with privatisation, and his re-railed journey after British Rail. He will relate his current preoccupations as Chairman of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group and the National Railway Heritage Awards and suggest how the signals are set for railways for the future including prospects for a reopened Campden station.
We have 22 March booked for a possible third talk but at the moment I am keeping the date available to use for an open members meeting. More details to follow.
We are continuing to look for opportunities to raise the money to build the car park in line with the town commitment at the meeting last February with our MP.
The Annual Membership Subscription (of £10 for single and £15 for joint) is now due and Members are invited to send their cheque to The Secretary, The Campden Society, The Old Police Station, High Street Chipping Campden GL55 6HB or Bank transfer to The Campden Society “Sort code 30-93-11 Account Number 00331052” please.
I wish you all a happy and healthy new year
Tony Rose – Chairman