Beauty spot 'saved' as sale agreed

The Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society has finalised a deal with current owner Moreton Cullimore (third from left) to buy the land

A much-loved beauty spot has potentially been saved from future developments after a huge community effort.

The Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society (HVCBS) has won a bid to purchase 102-acre Thrupp Farm, Stroud, Gloucestershire, after a long fundraising campaign.

The land, known locally as the Heavens, has a waterfall and meadows and is used widely by locals and visitors.

The HVCBS needs to raise £850,000 to secure the land for public use, and the group's director is now calling on residents to support them.

The HVCBS has already collected about £300,000 through public pledges.

Director of the HVCBS Karen Thomas said: “We have negotiated sufficient bridging funds from two supportive individuals to buy the entire farm.

The valley sits on the edge of the town of Stroud, stretching towards Thrupp, in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

"As security, these individuals have a ‘charge’ over the land so as we raise the money and repay the loans, more and more land is released from the charge and comes into community ownership.

"This means that every bit of money raised saves a bit more of the land."

The group hopes to "support nature recover" across the area, and use the meadows and woods for education and volunteering.

“We are calling on all those people who love the Heavens Valley to help us with this purchase.

"Every penny is crucial now," she added.

The valley sits on the edge of the town of Stroud, stretching towards Thrupp, in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Moreton Cullimore, who is selling the land on behalf of his family business, said: “This land has been in my family since the 1960s and has enormous personal meaning for us, as I know it has for the wider community.

"Selling to the Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society, who were not the highest bidder, continues my family’s philanthropic endeavours in Stroud.

"Part of my decision was to ensure the Cullimore legacy was continued, as well as being assured that the land would be in safe hands.”