Topic: email campaign to save our lotties

[kitty]

aaaaaaah!moonbells!you read my mind!
i have just had a harrowing experiance of my mother dying and cutting me out of her will-my brother-a rampant christian ,churchwarden of his local church at reepham in lincs...who has put me right once or twice on christian principles saw fit to keep the lot(£200k)for himself...after one or two..ahem...'discussions'about the love of money being the root of all evil,he finally refused to have anything more  spoken about the subject-i find 'christians'who pick and choose which part of christianity to conform to hard to understand..and i can imagine how embarrassing it must be for true christians.....
what i will say-i bin rich -i bin poor-rich is better-but i can hack poor too! ;D
and no amount of money could ever compensate me for having a sanctimonious prig for a brother. ;)

[redimp]

Reephams on my way to work Kitty - would you like me to pop round and sort him.  I am not a Christian but I have nothing against anybody of any religion.  The people I cannot stand all have the same principle and that principle is hypocrisy. 

[kitty]

oooo-clanger-you treasure!
yes please-and feel free to take some great big mates with you! ;)
i have absolutely nothing against people who feel the need for religion.i'm just  not one of them-what i object to is being advised as to how we should be living a pious life while they whoop it up in a most ungodly fashion...

for anyone who wishes to discuss this aspect of godliness with my brother please feel free to pm me for the entire sordid story and his full address..... ;) ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

That sounds completely disgusting; I was cut out of my father's will so I know how you feel. In a way I'm not sorry; knowing the sort of person he was, I'm not sure I'd have wanted it anyway. The reality is, everyone picks and chooses out of the Bible, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly. Nobody wants a God who commands genocide (Deuteronomy 7), for instance, so nobody takes it at face value. Mostly they just ignore it, and rightly so. I get annoyed with people who insist rigidly on the 7 days of Genesis 1's creation scheme, ignore the single day of Genesis 2, and pass over in silence the waters above the sky, also in Genesis 1. That really is picking and choosing. People who manipulate the text for selfish ends make me want to vomit.

[moonbells]

Ouch.

It is indeed annoying when folk pick and choose bits of the Bible according to what they want to say.  I try to be consistent in what I aspire to live to but suspect I'm all too human sometimes.
I try to live with the thought that the Lord will sort out the hypocrites, eventually.  Even if I too get a slapped wrist for slipping (as I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn't!)

I think the best way to deal with someone who does something awful is to be nice to them both in public and in private.  That way, you don't compromise your own behaviour, and may make them feel awkward!

moonbells

[kitty]

ahh...but at least you try moonbells!can't ask for fairer than that... :)
i think that plan of being nice to people who dump on you from a great height- is a good one..unfortunately i am all too weakly  human in that respect and there is ever so slightly MORE chance of hell freezing over than me ever speaking to my brother again...well..theres only so much you can take aint there? ;)
i do have other compensations-a wonderful mother in law,great OH and son-good friends,great job and a contented life-and i've grown some ace taties this year! ;D

[redimp]

Ouch.

It is indeed annoying when folk pick and choose bits of the Bible according to what they want to say.  I try to be consistent in what I aspire to live to but suspect I'm all too human sometimes.
I try to live with the thought that the Lord will sort out the hypocrites, eventually.  Even if I too get a slapped wrist for slipping (as I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn't!)

I think the best way to deal with someone who does something awful is to be nice to them both in public and in private.  That way, you don't compromise your own behaviour, and may make them feel awkward!

moonbells

Don't worry moonbells - I think hypocrisy has to be intended and I am sure that we are all guilty of the occasional slip, religious or not.  I only think it is those who deliberately preach but do not practice that are getting our hackles up.

[moonbells]

ahh...but at least you try moonbells!can't ask for fairer than that... :)
i think that plan of being nice to people who dump on you from a great height- is a good one..unfortunately i am all too weakly  human in that respect and there is ever so slightly MORE chance of hell freezing over than me ever speaking to my brother again...well..theres only so much you can take aint there? ;)
i do have other compensations-a wonderful mother in law,great OH and son-good friends,great job and a contented life-and i've grown some ace taties this year! ;D

which reminds me... pm on way...

moonbells

[jennym]

Me too. I sent a short one as follows to Richard Harries:
Dear Sir, I have heard with concern that the church is intending to build on land now used as as allotment site at Skimmingdish Lane.
As an allotment holder myself, I beg you to use your influence so that the development does not take place. Allotments are essential to the community, and available numbers have been dwindling. I believe their use should be encouraged, and urge you to support allotments in the community.
Hoping for your support,
etc...

I hope this helps Jennym

[Icyberjunkie]

I have to say I agree totally with the view here both on the lotties and 'pick and choose' Christianity.   Mind you we will never be perfect and all make mistakes and often being nice to the nasty has far more impact than being nasty back.   As an Angliczn myself I also have issue with a lot of decisions made by the high church and did a lot of soul searching before getting confirmed!

Anyway a letter has been sent along the lines of this is a not good for pastoral care, outreach or setting the kind of example that may encourage people to find Christ.    If anyone wants to add a letter to the list then this line of opposition may be quite effective.

Iain

[fat larry]

I would be interested to know just who has sent emails or letters to the church over this. In a bid not to clog up the board could people be so kind as to send me a private message to say if they have done so, and whether by post or email. thanks for all your support, btw.
ps my broad beans are delicious, well worth fighting for!!!

[fat larry]

We've now got a very simple website (has to be for me to understand) www.freewebs.com/savetheplot

Hope it sums up our story, feel free to link it to your own sites etc.
It would be good if folk could find it via google, but doesn't seem to come up for me:(

[fat larry]

Several people tending our lotties have had threatening letters from the church's solicitors today. I'm trying to post it on our website www.savetheplot.co.uk but it's not going up at the moment.
not sure if this will work. if not basically it says 'our instructions are that unless you vacate by aug 31 our client may commence proceedings against you for recovery of the land and for compensation for any loss it incurs as a result of your occupation. Obviously our client would prefer not to issue proceedings but if it has to do so, it will be entitled to recover from you the court fee and its other costs of obtaining possession. We look forward to hearing from you.'

(i tried to add the pic of the letter but am not sure how to do it)

[amphibian]

I have just read this thread, a terrible state of affairs. I discovered my site had been under threat of development, until all us newbies turned up.

[westsussexlottie]

I have just taken a look at your website.

Leisure use could encompass lots of uses other than allotments including a golf course (if used with surrounding land), an "adventure warehouse" type development, or cinema, or bowling alley. A leisure centre or swimming pool would be another obvious choice - is there a need or push for one of these in your local area?  If so then this could be their aim and would probably get local support.

As soon as the application goes in then anyone can object.
I suggest that you give us all the file reference number of the application and the name and address of the planning offices and we can all write in to object.

I studied planning for years at university, and in order to objections to be taken seriously they should not be emotive and should concentrate upon the facts as they stand in planning law e.g. density of the proposed development is too high; the proposal causes reduction in the right of light to neighbouring properties; loss of green space; loss of community facilities; unacceptable additional levels of traffic causing to increased risks on the highway; development is contrary to the zoning of the 2004 local plan.
Look at the policies in the local plan and try to find those which do not match with the application and use these points as the key to your letter of objection. You will find that they are then taken more seriously.

If you can get your parish council to object to the application then the decision will not be allowed to be taken under delegated powers (by a planning officer) and will have to go to a committee meeting - at which any objector can speak for a couple of minutes to the committee about their reasons for objection. The local councillors hold more sway than the planners at this stage - but if they reject it then it could go to appeal - but don't forget that the Government are very keen on allotments.

I hope this is of some help.

[fat larry]

Thanks, all. We now have 130 local objection letters as per the one on the website. Now on top of legal letters there is a planning application - it too is on www.savetheplot.co.uk and I seem to have a slew of email objectors, from all over Oxfordshire, as well as Essex, Coventry etc, so am pretty pleased with that.

Also got letter from Bishop of Oxford referring back (bizarrely) to the 1996 local plan – only eight years out of date! (last one was 2004 when the lotties are not marked for development)

Agree about emotive stuff – and about other possibilities for site. But it turns out, according to Jeremy Burchardt (allotment academic!) that ours IS one of the oldest of its kind in the country – a rural allotment, not a pretty one, but part of English history no less!

the planning ref is on the website ... feel free to object too if are able.


Many, many thanks

[Robert_Brenchley]

If it's a historical one that's something to push for all it's worth. Would there be any chance of getting English Heritage to list it? Our site is listed, so it wouldn't be the first. Does it have hedges or any distinctive feature? It was the hedges which were crucial in our case.

[fat larry]

We're in The Times today. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1744664,00.html
hopefully with a pic. Very good piece but doesn't point out that they don't yet have planning permission AND that it is outside the local plan and not zoned for development IN ANY WAY!

[Svea]

a good article nonetheless. :) well done!

[Moggle]

Great article. Hope it helps do the job!