A campaign to save East Coker

Sandra Snelling of the East Coker Preservation Trust writes:

The Somerset village of East Coker, where T. S. Eliot is interred, is shortly going to be swamped by 3,750 new houses and an industrial estate. The plan is being pushed through by a Liberal Democrat councilor on the South Somerset Council who admits his ignorance of its cultural significance, adding "I don't like poetry" and "You may well personally hold that a dead poet's tomb is a national monument, and that the setting extends for miles around, but as I understand it Elliott only had a passing link with the village, being the family home rather than his chosen place of regular abode. He was so overwhelmed with East Coker that he mentioned it in a poem once."

If the council does not very soon feel a groundswell of opposition from those who appreciate the beauty and literary importance of the village, this scheme will be unstoppable. Please will you help us to prevent that, by sending an email to the members of the council whose addresses appear below -- and by sending this appeal on to any of your friends who might also like to help? The East Coker Preservation Trust will be happy to provide any more information you need. It will be much appreciated if you feel able to write.

The campaign online: Facebook | Website | Blog | Twitter | YouTube

Members of the South Somerset District Council, and other gov't. contacts:

• andy.foyne@southsomerset.gov.uk
• rina.singh@southsomerset.gov.uk
• mark.williams@southsomerset.gov.uk
• peter.seib@southsomerset.gov.uk
• patrick.palmer@southsomerset.gov.uk
• david.laws.MP@parliament.uk
• caroline.power@english-heritage.org.uk
• john.richardson@southsomerset.gov.uk
• cathy.bakewell@southsomerset.gov.uk
• carol.goodall@southsomerset.gov.uk
• susan.steele@southsomerset.gov.uk
• marcus.fysh@southsomerset.gov.uk
• tony.fife@southsomerset.gov.uk
• john.chainey@southsomerset.gov.uk
• peter.gubbins@southsomerset.gov.uk
• andrew.kendall@southsomerset.gov.uk
• david.recardo@southsomerset.gov.uk
• dave.greene@southsomerset.gov.uk
• tony.lock@southsomerset.gov.uk
• tim.carroll@southsomerset.gov.uk
• ian.martin@southsomerset.gov.uk
• wes.read@southsomerset.gov.uk
• jon.gleeson@southsomerset.gov.uk
• pauline.lock@southsomerset.gov.uk
• graham.oakes@southsomerset.gov.uk
• nigel.gage@southsomerset.gov.uk
• ric.pallister@southsomerset.gov.uk
• martin.wale@southsomerset.gov.uk
• tim.carroll@southsomerset.gov.uk
• angie.singleton@southsomerset.gov.uk
• adron.duckworth@southsomerset.gov.uk

Photos -- "showing what is at stake" -- courtesy Jim McCue.