Good News About Roswell Pits Says Campaign Group

WE thought your readers would like to hear some more good news about Roswell Pits. Local Campaigners for the Protection of Rural Ely - who have spearheaded the successful campaign to protect this wonderful area for the whole community - have become the proud owners of a two-acre strip of land along the east side of the main pit. On June 12 - exactly two years after the first big LCPRE meeting - we bought the land, and now plan to work with other conservation groups to manage the area for conservation. Most of the land around the main pit - but not all of it - is owned by a developer, as your readers will know. We found out that the owner of this small remaining strip was interested in selling. We succeeded in raising enough to buy it - beating one other bidder in the process, who had already approached the owner. We wish to put on record our thanks to those generous people in both Ely and Cambridge who enabled us to do this. We are really very excited about this because it means the land is now safeguarded against development. Raising the cash shows the level of public commitment to the whole Wildspace project, in Ely but also in Cambridge. Completing the purchase also makes LCPRE not just a stakeholder in Roswell Pits but also a landowner within the new Site of Special Scientific Interest. We think this bold move will help establish our credibility as a safe pair of hands for looking after land in the interests of the community - especially if and when other areas become available.

ANDREW BALMFORD

Chair, Local Campaigners for the Protection of Rural Ely