Why This Field campaign meeting in the Civic Hall

The W.T.F. Campaign, which has been set up to save the Elmhirst Building and Kevicc lower field from developers are hosting a second public meeting on Wednesday evening (6th July) in the Civic Hall from 6:30pm

The Kevicc School are needing to raise funds to carry out repairs and build new classrooms and facilities. This is being achieved by selling off several parcels of land owned by the Dart Valley Learning Trust. The Sale of this land is being managed by Torbay Council via their development business TDA Group.

The area of concern for the Why This Field campaign is directly opposite the school leading down to the Dart river. Concerns about a dramatic increase in traffic, air quality, another luxury housing estate and the loss of a rare open green space have prompted many local townspeople to take action.

The Totnes Town Council have made a bid for the space offering Kevicc the market value in order to keep it as a resource for the local community. At the previous WTF Town Meeting however, Headmaster Alan Salt and Governor Jim Lodge were implicit that they are required to accept the highest monetary value which was hotly disputed by several attendees including District Councillor John Birch and Devon County Councillor Jacqi Hodgson who assert that ‘Best Value’ must take community and social factors into account.

The second public meeting will involve a presentation from WTF group members Caroline Voaden and Paul Wesley with Dr Kevin Burchell revealing the results of the survey with more than 560 responses and carried out over the last 3 or 4 weeks.  The emphasis of this meeting, to which all are welcome, is action. Peter Shearn, another activist in the group said “It is extremely concerning that Kevicc appear to be entirely driven by financial rather than community and social responsibility. If we are to convince the School that this is not purely about money and that they, and this green space, are an important part of this community, then we as citizens must make ourselves clear.”

The meeting will have action plans that everyone can get involved in with discussions on how the campaign can be most effective. The WTF have also created a GoFundMe crowdfunder to raise funds to cover costs of the campaign.