I support the trustees over showground
I AM a former president of Newbury and District Agricultural Society. My family and I have been active in support of the work of the society and of the show for many decades.
Like many, I felt great sadness at the absence of the show last year. For me it has been one of the highlights of the West Berkshire calendar for many years. I therefore wish to explain why I support the trustees in finding a way forward that first and foremost secures the true charitable purposes of the society. I will not be supporting the stand taken by the so-called Requisitionists.
I understand that my views on the best way forward will not be supported by some in the local agricultural community, many of whom are my friends.
My reason for supporting the trustees is a belief in the importance of educating and informing the wider population about farming, the environment, the countryside and how our food gets from field to fork.
The show was always only part of what the society was all about and the show’s increasing inability to be a financially successful event was already apparent pre-Covid. The pandemic brought this financial reality into sharp relief, as it has for many other charities and businesses here and abroad. The path along which the trustees are painstakingly taking the society will allow the important wider educational work it does to continue and grow.
Furthermore, if the full potential for the Newbury Showground site can be realised, the money received will provide the society with long-term financial security that will allow, if there is the demand, for a different and hopefully better show on another site in due course.
Until that happens, I support the society in its aim to remain on the Newbury Showground if possible, and to develop events that do not lose money.
I respect the views of all on this issue.
Some members of the society will have conflicting views but I am comfortable that the huge amount of time and effort being put in by the trustees will lead to the right way forward.
Now is the time to recognise the financial reality for the society and to grasp an opportunity that will provide a substantial long term benefit for future generations in this part of England to feel more connected to farming, rural businesses and the environment. RICHARD BENYON
Lord Benyon of Englefield