Topic: Battle for Jefferies' land: How a 19th-century naturalist became a cause célèbre in Wiltshire

[Jean]

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And now the fight to save Jefferies Land has got news coverage in the Guardian and Country Life! We've never had so much national publicity, but will it do any good?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/oct/13/richard-jefferies-swindon-coate-water

COUNTRY LIFE
October 12, 2011 page 42
Writers back Jefferies campaign
CAMPAIGNERS are fighting to save the landscape that inspired the Victorian nature writer Richard Jefferies (picture left). The author spent the first 27 years of his life at Coate Farm, near Swindon, Wiltshire. Visitors to the farmhouse, now a literary shrine, can still walk around the orchard vividly described in Amaryllis at the Fair and along the ancient hedgerow he called 'the highway of the birds'. Jean Saunders, secretary of the Richard Jefferies Society, says proposals to build 900 houses and a business park would affect countryside 'central to shaping the imaginative genius'. She argues that views towards and from Liddington Hill, on whose slopes Jefferies underwent the 'mystical' experiences described in The Story of My Heart, will also be lost. Several literary figures, including Richard Mabey and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, have supported the campaign (www.jefferiesland. blogspot.com), which includes a 52,000-signature petition. Councillors rejected the proposals earlier this year, but a public inquiry begins on November 15. Jack Watkins

[Greengirl]

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It won't do any harm and the more people read them, the more voices will be added to the growing movement not to accept the corporate ruling of our land.

To start to take power back, there are more good pages on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/350.org- where we can see how our wants as human beings are being eroded- and its time to change.

Our green spaces are a perfect example of most voices wanting things to remain green, against a few powerful and rich voices. Standing up for what we believe in is important now and will make a difference.