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NEWSLETTER APRIL 2007
MEMBER'S LETTER

Dear Member,

I invite you to the Association’s AGM on Thursday May 10th at Ferriers Barn, Bures, 7.30 for 8.00pm, when Ronald Blythe, who I am sure is well known to you all, will be our guest speaker. Ronnie very much epitomises what the Association is all about and he has achieved countrywide fame through his books such as “Akenfield” and his latest “A Year at Bottengoms Farm” and I can promise you an interesting talk. As usual wine will be served prior to the meeting, so please bring any friends with you.

You are also invited to the Association’s Summer Party, which this year will be held at Great Bevills, Bures, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Probert on Tuesday June 19th at 6.45pm. We are very fortunate indeed to receive this invitation, as Great Bevills is a beautiful Elizabethan house, overlooking the Stour valley and with a lovely garden.

The Association’s website is proving popular, as you will see from the short article on Page 10 by Mark Dawson. I would urge you all to read Mark’s article and please do send him your email address. We do endeavour to keep the news page up to date, so members, and the public at large can see at a glance the issues, and what is more the action bring taken by The Association. However we will be so much more effective in the future if we can mobilise the membership through direct contact via email.

I am very grateful to those of you who wrote on an individual basis to object to BAA’s plans for the further expansion of Stansted Airport. Along with many other organisations and individuals I had an opportunity, in the summer, to make a presentation, on the Association’s behalf to Uttlesford District Council opposing BAA’s planning Application to increase the number of aircraft movements (using the existing single runway) and passenger numbers. I am delighted to say that the Council refused the Application.

 

I am very grateful to the management of Waitrose in
Sudbury who allowed the Association to have a stand in
their entrance one Saturday last October, giving us an
opportunity to promote our cause and recruit new members. Needless to say without the help of those committee members who gave up their time that day, little progress would have been made, and I am equally grateful to them. Waitrose estimates that around 3500 members of the public visit the store on a Saturday and we had a chance to speak to many of them. Most responses were positive and the Association increased its membership by around 50 – an increase of over 10%.

You will also remember that, last year, I asked all members to get at least one new recruit for the Association. A number of members responded positively to this initiative and I am grateful to them, as they have also helped to swell our numbers. We need, however, to do much more. The organisation is only as good as its members and we urgently need to expand in order to be able to influence the major issues facing us. Again I would urge you all to recruit one new member during this year. To encourage you there will be a draw for those who introduce new members during 2007 with a prize of a magnum of champagne for the winner. Please see the section of my Annual report on “Membership” for further details.

I would be most grateful if you could take a moment to complete and return the enclosed slip of paper indicating whether you will be coming to the AGM and also the Summer Party, so that we have some idea of numbers at each event. Please return the form in the enclosed envelope.

Lastly, I hope that you will like the new logo of the CSCA. The old logo had served us well since the foundation of the Association, however it was an inaccurate map and terribly ‘dated’. The new logo is intended to convey our ‘green’ credentials! Later in the Newsletter you will find an Ordinance Survey map showing the area of our involvement as well as a list of all villages/towns in the area.

I look forward to seeing you at our AGM.

Yours sincerely
SIMON WARD
Chairman

Member's Letter || Water Mills on the Upper Colne || Dragonflies on the Stour || Lamarsh Bell Restoration || The CSCA Website || What is wrong with our Horse Chestnuts? || Annual Report 2006