Campaigners battle on to save organic farm as deadline passes

Campaigners fighting to save a Shropshire organic farm by putting it into community ownership have vowed to battle on despite their deadline passing this week.

Babbinswood Farm Community Benefit Society has raised £130,000 since it launched its campaign in February this year and funds are still coming in.

But, despite attracting support from across the UK and the world, it has not reached its £800,000 to £1.5m target. The funds were needed by September 30 to avoid the land at Whittington being put onto the open market.

Now the society is calling on its 600 members and other supporters to battle on and support fund raising until the end of the year in the hope that all or part of the land will still be available.

Barbara Jones, the landowner, is still strongly in favour of community ownership but financial necessity means she is now looking at offers from other parties.

Community benefit society director Patricia Gibbons said that more than £10,000 had been raised in just one week as the September deadline approached.

“We have raised nearly £130,000 so far through pure people power, and that community is continuing to grow every day,” she said.

“But we have now reached the point at which the vendor can no longer promise to give the CBS first refusal on buying the land. The landowner has waited a long time to facilitate the community purchase, and we are so grateful, but she can’t wait forever.

“This isn’t the end for us. We are going to keep fundraising for as long as we can to save as much land as we can,” she added.

Directors also held the CBS’ first annual general meeting this week where members reinforced their belief that organic land should be held in community hands rather than lost to the whims of the market or political expediency.

“We want to give people a hopeful place that they know they can come to and trust that the living world is being looked after, and we know that this is possible and desperately needed,” said Patricia.

Further information on the fund raising and community shares is available on the website babbinswoodfarmcbs.org.uk or by emailing future@babbinswoodfarmcbs.org.uk.

The Crowdfunder page is at Save Babbinswood Farm.