Update on Herstmonceux Observatory....’Midnights’…..From ‘Right to Roam’……
by Bernie Bell - 08:14 on 01 August 2024
Update on Herstmonceux Observatory....
“UPDATES: There are a couple of petition initiatives aimed at getting Queens to change their minds. Let's hope these make a difference, but if not, we should maintain pressure for the site to remain a public access heritage site, with or without Science Projects.
*Change.org petition* from Zara Drake to stop Queens terminating the lease to the OSC.
https://www.change.org/p/save-the-observatory-science-centre-herstmonceux
*Community letter to Queen's University* prepared by Ryan French, which gives you an opportunity to tell Queens exactly what the site means to you and why the lease should be extended:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYEORl0bLvQxsh185eqkSfB42sAjJH6fqb9UUGRfHnzC9aAw/viewform
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‘Midnights’……
How many midnights have I spent
in farmers' fields or my backyard
with a telescope, binoculars
or my naked caveman eyes
looking up at the stars,
scanning the sky for meteors,
digging deep through time
into the swirl of a nearby galaxy?
The siren song of a clear night
has left me broken on the shores
of dawn more times than I can count
but if these sunset clouds blow away,
I'll once again bask in the moonlight
because I don't know how many midnights
I have left.
https://bartbarkerpoet.com/2024/07/30/midnights/
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From ‘Right to Roam’….
“A fifth of England’s constituencies have no right to roam. Is yours one of them?
With hundreds of MPs newly elected and a new government in power, our fresh analysis shows just how unequal access to nature is in England.
103 constituencies out of 543 in England - almost a fifth of the total - have no right to roam in them at all. Nada. Zip. Zero.
And lack of access to green space isn’t only a problem plaguing urban constituencies. 96 rural seats in England have less than 1% access land in them. We’re calling these constituencies ‘access deserts’.
So, are you living in an access desert? You can find out right now by looking at our shiny new spreadsheet.
If this outrages you (and it should), don’t just stay quiet about it. Tell your new MP!
With lots of new MPs in parliament, we know many of them are interested in access to nature - but they need to hear that it’s a priority for their constituents.
You can find your MP’s email in our spreadsheet here - and to make it really easy, we’ve created a template email for you to personalise and send to them here.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act - the law brought in by Attlee’s Labour government that created national parks. Yet as our new analysis shows, our access to the countryside remains sparse and hugely unequal.
It’s time for the new government to finish the job Labour started 75 years ago by giving the public a right of responsible access to England’s countryside.
Best wishes,
Guy & the Right to Roam team
P.S. We’re a campaign that punches well above its weight, but we’re run on a shoestring budget. Can you join our band of 500 amazing supporters chipping in £5 or more a month? With a new government in power and the Dartmoor Supreme Court case looming this October, we have big plans to ramp up our campaigning, but need your help to fund it. Thanks for anything you can donate!
To follow us on social media:
Twitter: @Right_2Roam
Instagram: right.2roam
Facebook: right2roam
Take me to the Right to Roam website
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