Group that bought green space needs to raise £550k

The Heavens Valley, which is situated near Stroud, is now in community ownership

A campaign group, which successfully raised £300,000 to buy a green space in Gloucestershire, has said it still needs to raise a further £550,000 to repay loans.

The Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society (HVCBS) exchanged contracts last month to purchase the 102-acre (41-hectare) Thrupp Farm, in Stroud, known locally as the Heavens.

The purchase completed the first phase of the campaign to bring the site into community ownership.

A celebration event is being held on Sunday to thank the almost 700 people who bought shares to secure the site's future.

"We're hoping as many people as possible be able to come and meet us in the Heavens Valley," HVCBS director, Karen Thomas, told BBC Gloucestershire.

"We're going to say a few words again just to thank everyone.

"There was only, I think, 250 acres of land in England under community ownership and we've just added another 102 to that. It's quite incredible really."

'Redoubling our fundraising efforts'

The HVCBS needed £850,000 in total to buy the site. Two members of the community have pledged £550,000, with the final £300,000 raised through fundraising and selling shares.

The next phase will be to raise the extra money to repay the loans, as the lenders will, technically, own some of the site until repayments are completed.

"So we will be redoubling our fundraising efforts and we are confident that the community will continue its support," said Ms Thomas.

"Meanwhile, we'll do an ecological survey, but the best time to do that is in the spring.

"We will possibly go down the conservation grazing route. We're going to look at that very carefully.

"It's very exciting, all the things we could do," she added.