This year has seen a huge, heart-warming response to the campaign to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development from residents of Faringdon and the western Vale, as well as from geologists and environmentalists further afield.

I especially want to thank all the local people who contributed hundreds of hours distributing leaflets across Faringdon, and who did it not just once but TWICE! Without your committed efforts, most people in Faringdon would have known nothing about the proposal for a vast industrial infrastructure development on their doorstep. Your work pounding the pavements of Faringdon has drawn tremendous support for the campaign as well as opposition to the neighbourhood plan that has facilitated this proposal. I also want to thank all the people who have come forward to offer their skills and expertise to the campaign, and who have more than demonstrated their commitment and generosity over the past six months. 

The incredible achievements of Wicklesham supporters and volunteers in 2023 have made me more certain than ever that we WILL Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development, and help it regain locally the recognition and status that it so richly deserves, which, over several decades, people forgot about.

In the course of letting everyone know about the proposed development we have been able to tell you just HOW IMPORTANT Wicklesham Quarry really is: a unique Site of Special Scientific Interest with fossils that are found nowhere else in the world, and a Conservation Target Area with Great Crested Newts, a European Protected Species, and ponds which are a Priority Habitat. Wicklesham Quarry is an irreplaceable environmental asset, and the key to understanding Faringdon's history, location and landscape. We look forward to the day when Faringdon properly recognizes the inestimable value of this beautiful site to the town, its people and its future.

As responses from official consultees appear on the County Council's planning  website, it has been gratifying to see ringing endorsements of Wicklesham Quarry's importance for biodiversity, confirming what the campaign has been saying since 2015.  In spite of strenuous efforts to deny the existence of the quarry's rare species and eliminate their habitat- they are still there! 

We hope that 2024 will finally see the end of the need for the campaign, as the town council recognizes that the value of Wicklesham Quarry SSSI FAR exceeds whatever profits could be made from trashing it.

As people everywhere across the world are realising almost too late, it's time to stop trading the natural environment for short-term profit.

Finally, a huge personal thank you from me to everyone who sends me emails of support, posts positive comments on updates and social media, and offers me time, kindness and listening ears. It has been an exhausting six months, but I am so grateful for the friendships made along the way. And by the way, WE WILL WIN THIS!

While we wait for public comments to appear on the County Council's website, if anyone is interested in reading my statement of objections, just drop me an email & I'll send you a pdf file. I am NOT in favour of being 'redacted'!

Please get in touch with any comments or queries: protectwicklesham@gmail.com