Court Farm campaign public meeting - March 24

CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans to stop one of Portishead's last remaining High Street farms from being sold off are to hold a public meeting.

Members of the Save Court Farm group are organising the meeting at The Poacher pub on March 24 from 7pm.

The aim of the meeting is to decide the next step of the campaign to press Bristol City Council to have a change of heart on its plans to sell of Court Farm and neighbouring Springfield Farm at auction in May.

Campaigners have already collected a 3000 name signature petition which they handed to Bristol City Council earlier this month objecting to the move and a letter pleading for the sale to be called off has gone to the authority's chief executive Jan Ormondroyd.

They want to launch discussions with the authority about the possibility of leasing the buildings and turning them into a community farm and heritage centre.

Campaign leader Rita Baker, a 37-year-old mum of two, said the people of Portishead now had to help draw up a blueprint of how they wanted the farm to be developed.

Mrs Baker, a cook, said: "We want people to come along to the meeting and have their say on what they would like to see happen at the site.

"We can then start drawing up a real vision for Court Farm.

"The preference is to agree either a community purchase or lease of the site and then form a trust to run it.

"There have been successful examples of this happening elsewhere in the country, but it needs to have the full support of the local community."

Mrs Baker said the campaign also needed people with a variety of skills to help the campaign.

She added: "We need people with skills such as fundraising, property, legal and others with perhaps a farming background to now come forward and join us and help us make our vision become a reality.

Anyone who wants to get involved with the campaign should email Mrs Baker on tootsie1972@tiscali.co.uk.