Forever Fields Project 2023

Forever Fields Project 2023Forever Fields Project 2023Forever Fields Project 2023Forever Fields Project 2023

Forever Fields Project 2023

Forever Fields Project 2023Forever Fields Project 2023Forever Fields Project 2023

An Art Archive of 3,400 acres of threatened Oxfordshire countryside

An Art Archive of 3,400 acres of threatened Oxfordshire countrysideAn Art Archive of 3,400 acres of threatened Oxfordshire countrysideAn Art Archive of 3,400 acres of threatened Oxfordshire countryside

Launch of the Forever Fields book

Sat 18th Jan 2025, 12-5pm

Bartholomew Room, Eynsham

(in the square opposite the church)

Forever Fields featured on WRFM Community Matters

One of our Forever Fields team, Anthony Thompson, has joined the Community Matters team on WRFM radio to chat about the launch of the Forever Fields book.  You can listen to the full interview below.

Listen here

At the Forever Fields Exhibition in November 2023 we promised to keep you informed of progress towards an ‘Art Archive’ that reflects how local people were feeling about the potential loss of fields, open space, wildlife and heritage, as expressed so powerfully in paintings and drawings, photographs and film, poetry, pottery and sculpture. Just before Christmas we asked you to ‘hold the date of 18th January’ and today we are very excited to explain why!


We had two key objectives when we started the Forever Fields project: 

  1. To provide an opportunity for local people to express their concerns about the scale, location and devastating impact of the Botley West Solar Farm proposal, and the lack of any alternative plans by the developer or landowner following initial consultation
  2. To create an Archive which could be used in the future to show what existed before Botley West if the development goes ahead


While we do not want this development to happen, the developer has made commitments that in 42 years the land would go back to fields. We wanted to generate material which would hold the landowner and developer to account, and force the reinstatement of the lost fields long after we have all gone. 


Since the exhibition we have worked hard to develop a suitable archive. We decided to create a book that captured all the images and other art works that were presented, along with the many comments left by visitors. The resulting book is a beautiful work in itself which captures the creative spirit of our communities and our love of our environment. We hope that you will be enticed to come and see it.


Why now? The government’s Planning Inspectorate has recently accepted the developer’s application for consideration. Forever Fields will register as an ‘interested party’ in this process and we will continue to represent the strong views expressed in the book at any hearing in due course.


A limited number of books will be available for sale on the day, but if we sell out, don’t worry - we will be taking orders.

  

PRICES: Hardback £75 / Paperback £25

  

Please note:

We have paid for the initial print run from private funding and have priced the book to cover printing costs only. We have not priced the book to produce any profit margin or to fund future Forever Fields or Stop Botley West activity.


We are also donating copies to The British Library, The Bodleian Library, four other main UK libraries and several Local Authorities, to provide a permanent archive of the Forever Fields Project and how local people responded through art, print, photography, poetry and sculpture to the Botley West Solar Farm proposal.


We are not fundraising to support Forever Fields 2025, and would like to thank you for your support in attending the Exhibition and Book Launch. However, if you wish to make a private donation to Stop Botley West we would encourage you to do so via www.stopbotleywest.com


We look forward to seeing you on 18th January. 

The Forever Fields Team

Forever Fields - The Art Exhibition - 12 Months Later

It has been almost exactly a year since the Forever Fields Art Exhibition which took place at Worton Hall, Cassington.


A lot has happened in terms of the Botley West Solar Farm plans since then and on 15th November 2024, the developer PVDP applied for a Development Consent Order (DCO). 


The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) has 28 days from the application date to decide whether to accept the application for review. If they do accept it, the ‘pre-examination’ stage will begin. 


Early in the pre-examination stage, individuals and groups will be invited to register as an ‘interested party’ and submit a ‘relevant representation’ outlining which aspects of the application they agree or disagree with, and the reasons why. 


This part of the process is likely to be between December 2024 and January 2025. 


Forever Fields will be registering as an ‘Interested Party’.


An important objective of the Forever Fields team was to create an Art Archive of the work that was displayed at the Exhibition last year and to capture the essence of the very special weekend we all enjoyed.


I am delighted to announce that a book has been created that includes all the artwork that was displayed and now forms a key part of the Art Archive we promised. Should the Botley West Solar Farm go ahead, there will now be a record of how people felt about the proposal and what could be lost - so that in 40 years’ time the fields can be restored back to their original form.

  

But this is to accept that it is going ahead, and the overwhelming feedback by visitors to the Exhibition was that it should not be allowed to progress in the form it is proposed. 


When we register Forever Fields as an Interested Party we will therefore be using the feedback from the 1200 people that attended to make the following points:


  1. The impact on the community will be very negative in the following areas: Landscape, Wildlife, Amenity, Mental Health and Well Being, and Heritage
  2. There is a lack of trust of the landowner and the developer who have not listened to the local community and amended their plans based on the concerns local people have particularly in respect of: Scale, Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land, Green belt, and Alternative solutions
  3. The description of the installation as ‘temporary’ is unacceptable. 40 years cannot reasonably be described as temporary and there is no detail provided as to what plans and resources will be put in place to restore the fields if the proposal is accepted and the solar farm is built. History tells us that farmland lost is farmland lost forever. 
  4. In response to the frustrations felt that the landowner and developer were not listening and that the consultation was inadequate, the Forever Fields Art Exhibition provided a forum for local people to express their concerns in a positive and creative way. Following the Exhibition a book has been created as a permanent record. 

THE FOREVER FIELDS BOOK

Below are a few images of the first proof copy of the Forever Fields Book. Originally, we planned to create a book to distribute to local councils to archive. We also plan to issue copies to the Planning Inspectorate and senior politicians who can influence this process. 


However, it is such a beautiful book we are beginning to wonder if we should print more copies and make them available more widely. 


If you would be interested in a hardback copy or soft back magazine version please let us know on foreverfieldsproject@gmail.com.   Click on the picture below to preview the book:

Begbroke, Bladon, Cassington, Cumnor, Eynsham, Farmoor, Freeland, Glympton, Hanborough, Tackley, Woodstock, Wootton, Yarnton

Did you know...

We could soon lose almost every field for miles around us…

  • If the ‘Botley West’ solar farm is constructed, up to 3,400 acres of our precious local countryside will be covered with 1.5 million solar panels for up to 40 years.


  • It is claimed that at the end of 40 years, this enormous solar farm will be removed.


  • Forever Fields 2023 is asking local people to record their experience of these beautiful fields now, because they may soon be lost for decades.


  • The experience can be paintings, drawings, photographs, sound recordings, video, written words/poetry and 3D sculpture or installations. Anything that captures the beauty of these fields from your perspective.


  • Together this will create a Digital Art Archive that will be used in the 2060s as a reminder to residents what may be lost and what should be reinstated.

OUR OBJECTIVES

To create a Forever Fields Art Exhibition later in 2023 where the paintings, drawings, photographs, sound recordings and video can be seen and heard by the general public.

To create a Digital Art Archive of our precious local landscape in case it is needed as an important reference point in returning the land to green space and countryside in the future.

Forever Fields Open Art Exhibition and Archive

‘Forever Fields’ Art Exhibition: 24 - 26 November 2023, at Worton Hall, Cassington OX29 4SU


One of the largest art exhibitions in the area for many years took place at the end of November 2023. It was a fantastic success, featuring more than 160 works of painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, installations, words and music. 


It was the overwhelming response by local people who were invited to express their feelings about the prospect of losing 3,400 acres of our countryside to Botley West Solar Farm. Over 90 artists, both professional and amateur, made their contributions. 


The event was attended by over 1100 people during the two days and one evening that it was open. An indication of the strength of feeling for the land and the threat that is currently hanging over it. Visitors were encouraged to add their thoughts and comments to a large board (the size of a solar panel) to form an ‘extra’ work of art. 


These have been recorded and will be added to the Digital Archive that Forever Fields is creating from the artworks and the event, so that if this gigantic power station is built, when the developer has to restore the fields after 40 years, there is a unique and accurate record of what was here.


The Forever Fields team would like to thank all of the contributors, artists and others who helped to make this an extraordinary event.


We will keep you posted with any further plans.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Learn more about the Stop Botley West Campaign, Oxfordshire at...

www.stopbotleywest.com

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