Help us secure the long term future of Lea Farm Lake (LFL)
As we have said Lea Farm Lake (LFL) was been bought by Ron Bryant in January 2019 and via a legal process will be given to LWT – an amazing gift that will ensure that the lake and the perimeter stays a protected nature reserve forever.
If we secure the Network Rail grant, the new stock fencing all around its perimeter, substantial reed beds and expansive shallow water areas in the North East corner and islets along the Eastern shoreline, will all be paid for.
What’s not paid for is the planned new hides, nor the security measures we need to put in place to protect Bittern hide, Ron’s hide and any others we have from vandals and idiots who think they can destroy our investments.
It would be amazing if we can deploy several webcams over the coming years, we want to connect them to our website to open people’s eyes (and our own) as how different birds behave at the nest. We really need to invest in proper marketing collateral, a banner, information boards etc. so we can have volunteers and fund raisers out at fetes, shows, carnivals and local retailers to raise money and awareness. We need professional social media and marketing guidance.
We’d love to engage with schools and groups more, offer walks and talks and have fun days for families to show them how amazing our local wildlife is and how important it is that we protect it.
All these things will be investments and overheads we must make to grow membership to 500, then 1000 or more, we need the average subscription and donation to be £20.00 per person, or family.
The long term challenges
- One key issue is disturbance from sheep farming from September to March and we are trying to come to arrangements so that the farmer has access but is not visible, renting a big part of the landfill visible from Ron’s hide is one short term option be looked at, but may cost too much to be viable.
- The longer term issue is what happens when methane stops coming out of the landfill and even though this might not be until 2045, but when it does, the site could become viable as business park, or housing development. Whilst it’s not guaranteed this will happen, we must face the fact that if this happens the impact on LFL would probably be devastating and we absolutely must make plans right now to try to avoid this happening at all costs.
What can we do?
LWT must position itself as a potential buyer of the nearest part of the landfill and ideally buy Lodge Wood Lake too, leaving us with no immediate neighbouring land we don’t control.
In 2017 the entire landfill guide price was £925,000.00, but we only need to secure about a fifth of the area, just the part we can see immediately from Ron’s hide, if they would split it that way? In today’s money that would be about about £200,000.00. If we wanted to lock out any possibility of a fishing club buying Lodge Wood and Lodge Wood Lake, that would cost another £175,000.00.
Can we raise nearly £400,000.00 in the next 20 years? I believe we can, Ron Bryant has inspired so many of us that anything is possible if you see the dream and believe we can make it a reality.
We can all help make the dream come true
If one man like Ron can buy a lake and gift it to us, imagine what 1,000 people could do? We just need to put the dream out there in the public domain and find more people to help us guarantee that the whole Lea Farm area is secured forever as a fantastic nature reserve, free from potential development in 25-50 years, free from disturbance of farming, free to let nature thrive.
One of the ways to do this would be by encouraging all our members to get around to organising their will and leaving a gift for LWT. If 50 people left us just £5,000.00 we would be able to buy Lodge Wood Lake and pay for the car park to be created.
UK charities received over £2.5 billion in 2016 from gifts in Wills http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/tfn-news/brits-leave-2.5bn-to-charity-in-their-wills and now we are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), LWT should be no exception.
Around 60% of Britons don’t have a Will https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3807497/Nearly-60-Britons-not-written-will.html
Leave us a gift in your Will
Leave us a gift in your Will and if you haven’t got one yet, or want to amend, or replace an old one, read on.
If you do have a Will and you know it is up to date, all you need to do is contact your solicitor and add a ‘codicil’ adding Lavell’s Wetland Trust to receive a specific gift of any amount you choose. You can make a gift on either a first, or second passing, or even both. Please be sure to add our charity number (1176960) so that LWT is guaranteed to benefit.
Fraser Cottington can provide an independent means to enabling anyone to set up a Will online, the Solicitor firm he consults for offers a free online platform called ‘ActiveWills’. Combat Stress are one of a number of charities using the platform https://www.combatstress.org.uk/support-us/give-money/gifts-wills
The Lavell’s Wetland Trust link to ActiveWills is here
If in doubt contact LWT and if you wish Fraser can offer advice.
You can of course find a local solicitor, visit the Law Society website at http://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/ Solicitor prices are highly variable.
The Money Advice Service is another good source for information
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/categories/making-a-will
As is Which https://www.which.co.uk/money/wills-and-probate/passing-on-your-money
