Following six months of silence, the sale of the Gastons is progressing again. Tewkesbury Battlefield Society has received a letter from the Tewkesbury School Charity Trustee’s agent inviting a sealed bid. The bid has to be made by September 1st, and the bidders will be notified of the outcome in mid October, after the Charity Commission have approved the process. We have no more information than this. As six months have passed since Tewkesbury Borough Council registered the land as a Community Asset, and ordered a moratorium on the sale to enable a community bid to be prepared we assume that bidding has re-opened because the moratorium is ended. Steps are now being taken to obtain proper professional advice and carry out the necessary due diligence work which has to precede a bid. We are in a position to make a realistic bid from money in the bank, thanks to a hugely successful fund-raising campaign in the spring. Donations continue to arrive, with a recent contribution of several thousand pounds from the Plantagenet Medieval Society. We have to submit our bid and wait now, but will be dusting off the plans and preparing for success! We’ve worked out what we need to do to bring the field back into a good condition and some necessary improvements to improve the battlefield interpretation. We’ve also been looking for potential uses and users, so that we can incorporate their needs as well. These range from grazing animals to children’s outdoor activities. Though the battlefield is foremost in our priorities, it is also a haven for wildlife of all sorts and a piece of agricultural land. All these things have to co-exist with new uses. Above all, we will work with the community, and particularly the people who live on the fringes of the field to try to incorporate their suggestions. We’re being positive. Once we have ownership, we’ll be looking for help for all sorts of things, and we’ll be after even more money to carry through the work programme. We’ll be applying for grants, but success relies on matched funding and volunteer help, so ownership is just going to be the end of the beginning. Our aim is to follow the success of the ‘Arrivall‘ commemorative sculpture with a fresh innovative venture for the town. CONTACT: [email protected] or 01684 294939
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 08:30:23 +0000
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