Around 85 members and their guests attended CPRE Gloucestershire's 2019 Annual General Meeting, held at Rendcomb College on 30th May.  Beforehand they were able to wander around the handsome College grounds, appreciate the impressive views of the Churn valley and admire the delightful adjacent Rendcombe Parish Church.

The meeting itself was held in the state-of-the-art Griffin Theatre where Branch President Charles Martell welcomed everyone and especially CPRE National President Emma Bridgewater CBE.  Before the AGM business, Emma Balfrey, the current Head Girl of the College, gave a moving personal account of her experiences at the school, stressing the wide range of opportunities it afforded.  The MP for the Cotswolds, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown then spoke briefly of his support for CPRE, dwelling especially on the importance of achieving an environmentally-acceptable solution to the A417 'missing link'.

Professor Patricia Broadfoot CBE, Chair of CPRE Gloucestershire reported on the wide range of activities and achievements of CPRE locally in 2018.  A keynote among these had been an alternative environmentally sensitive vision for Gloucestershire in the future to challenge the economically-driven approach advocated by 'Gloucestershire 2050'.  More detail of the year’s achievements is available in the 2018 Annual Review.

In her keynote address Emma Bridgewater said how impressed she was by the clarity of vision, the passion and the energy of CPRE which addressed challenges in a practical and businesslike way.  But, while the organisation had at its heart a simple mission, it was failing to get this across to a wider audience – in particular to a younger age-group which shared its views.  The forthcoming rebranding of the organisation would be a major step forward in getting all of the CPRE network to deliver a common message of protecting and enhancing the countryside to a wider and receptive audience.  In taking this forward, CPRE Gloucestershire had a key role to play.