Following a meeting
with Stratford upon Avon MP, Nadhim Zahawi, Save Shottery looks forward to the
possibility of a Shakespeare heritage site on land behind Anne Hathaway’s
Cottage
Save Shottery talks to Residents Against Shottery Expansion
about Shakespeare’s legacy. RASE meets with Stratford District Council on the
subject of Planning. SDC talks to Shakespeare Birthplace Trust about its
Trustees on the Board. Stratford MP, Nadhim Zahawi talks to us all from time to
time, but separately.
There has never been an occasion when all the opponents of
the massive Government-supported housing scheme on land west of Shottery have
come together as one to discuss the huge threat to Stratford. With the High
Court appeal lodged by Stratford District Council against the Secretary of
State for Communities’ decision due to take place in April and May, getting
these various organisations to be more transparent and communicative in the
near future is highly unlikely. So, what next?
One forum
When
Save Shottery met Nadhim Zahawi on 1 February, we put it to him that he might
chair meetings convening all the
scheme’s opponents. Following his passionate Parliamentary speech to Nick Boles
and Eric Pickles in November, what more might he do now to gather together what
could be a very powerful response, if united and co-ordinated?
Mr Zahawi stated that he would be more than happy to invite
Save Shottery to a meeting of StratfordVision, after the High Court Appeal judgement is known. Attended by both
Stratford District Council leaders and the Director of Shakespeare Birthplace
Trust, this forum could be a useful vehicle to discuss what might happen next.
When invited, Save Shottery will be more than happy to
address Stratford Vision, whatever the High Court decision. The real sense of
social and environmental injustice that fired us up to run the Save Shottery
campaign in autumn 2012 is still alive and kicking in 2013.
It’s worth pointing out at this juncture that, nowhere on
its website does Stratford Vision even refer to the Shottery housing
development. It’s as if this potentially most disastrous of all schemes is all
happening in the background.
Stratford Vision is a voluntary body, comprising members from
local government, business, culture and tourism. The organisation aims to re-energise,
recreate and reward the people of Stratford on Avon. Founder, Denys Shortt, says “I feel communication is absolutely key - not
only communication between organisations but also communication of the
Vision... We believe that the current strategic thinking at Council level needs
to focus on what makes Stratford on Avon ‘special' - namely that the town
produced William Shakespeare and is home to the globally iconic Royal
Shakespeare Theatre and a range of properties where Shakespeare and his family
lived their lives.”
Save Shottery intends to remind Stratford Vision of these
words.
Proactive protectionStratford bodies cannot persist in being against everything. The town needs to get on the front foot and take an active, united approach to land as important as that west of Shottery.
To this end, Save Shottery would like to propose that
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust work in collaboration with Stratford District
Council, English Heritage and other interested bodies, such as the RSC and
Warwickshire County Council, to create and protect this site, this land it owns
behind Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. We would like to invite Shakespeare societies
from around the world to take part in an international fundraising campaign to
buy and own this land and keep it in special trust for Shakespeare lovers now
and in the future.
Save Shottery believes that heritage organisations have not
done enough to safeguard this irreplaceable legacy during this struggle. Nobody, apart from Save Shottery, has
encouraged SBT to seek funding in other, more positive ways, rather than
selling land. As a result, Nadhim Zahawi has also agreed to write to English
Heritage on our behalf, to suggest that it play a useful role in the aftermath
of the High Court decision.
Stratford’s plethora of organisations owes much to past
culpability and division. Enough of that. There’s too much at stake. Save
Shottery is more interested in the future than in the past. We are proposing
this Shakespeare heritage site now, ahead of the High Court decision, because
we want to appeal positively to the various parties involved to come together
to see what we might achieve as a united force, for the value of Shakespeare in
Stratford, for Stratford. Those who come after us will judge us on our
behaviour, so nothing else will do.
While there is not much we can do between now and the High
Court case, therefore, Save Shottery is already looking beyond that decision to
a positive future of greater collaboration and more effective custodianship of
Shakespeare’s legacy.