Atmosphere08

A major hollar of thanks to Al and his team for laying on an incredible event, well organised fun, no hassle and they even managed to book the right Weather and tides for maximum enjoyment!! I have stuck a small youtube vid of the freeflyzone at the bottom of the blog. As far as my small contribution was concerned I have to say it was a humbling experience. I went along hoping to come away with 1 signature and a sore patch on my backside from all the scratching. Instead I was overwhelmed by the comments of support, the amount of slips completed (34) and general proactive attitude of everyone I spoke to. So a huge thanks to all of you who took time away from beer and kites to chat and sign up. E.S from Bishops Stortford you forgot to put your email address down so please can you go online and sign the petition. There has also been an increase in the rate of signing today, so I am hoping that the combined effort should take us into the dizzy heights of the top 100 most signed petitions, which will be a huge show of support and significance. I thought it might be interesting for you to see how far the canoeists got with their effort and the response that they got. I hope that we get an equally proactive response. (http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/page14435.asp ). Anyway Keep the Faith and keep signing we've only a little over a month to go now.

News just in: Email from Peter Ainsworth MP's office apologising for the lack of response from Hilary Benn MP's they have followed up and are hoping for a response.

A busy Week

Well it's been a busy week for the campaign, and I've recveived some great offers of help. Also I've been chatting with Jerry from the BKFA about the campaign and the CCPR so I'm looking forward to see how that pans out. Whilst the brain is focussed I've been digging around to see if we are any closer to the simplification of the SPS that Tony Cooper at the RPA said was imminent. The process is definately under way but there isn't any sign that it will have much of an impact on us. But I'm still reading, and there is a lot to read!! I have also written to Tony Cooper again to see if that yields any results. If you want to do your own reading I've added blog feeds for the "Cap Health Check" (a UK pressure group) and "Mariann Fisher-Boel" (European Commissioner for Agriculture & Rural Development) to this page. It is Mariann who wrote to us telling us that there is nothing in the current framework that prevents the sport being carried out, and who is managing the simplification process. Any news about proposed changes will be posted on these blogs. Still looking forward to meeting some of you next weekend. Keep the faith!!

Learn a new thing everyday.......

I never thought when I started this campaign that I'd end up having to learn about html, widgets, flares, tags, feeds etc or that it would appeal to the Geek in me. But it has and now hopefully it will work in every ones favour. If you put your email address in the box these posts will arrive in your inbox, if you prefer to use a feed reader or a social bookmarking site click mark us up from one of the links above. If you use a site not up there let me know and I'll add a button. As far as the campaign is going the signing rate has picked up on the petition and I've had an amazing offer of help from one of you, who will remain nameless unless they let me make it public. Which has put some more wind in my sails. That's all I wanted to say, that now it's easier to get news about progress, also for those of you who do receive the news you can forward them on to your mates. I've also added a diagram of who we've been talking to and what looks like the best channels for progress. Keep the Faith and Keep Signing. Thanks to all

Getting out there....

Well the saps rising and that's not all!! People are beginning to wake up and dust off their kites. What a great time to try another tack and bring the campaign out into the public. I got a great call from Al at Atmosphere kites who, (along with the crew at SWATK have been a huge support), offered me a soapbox stand at their event Atmosphere 08. What an amazing opportunity to get direct feedback on the campaign, rustle up a few more signatures ('cos we really need them!), answer any questions and spread the word, as well has having a blast!! I look forward to meeting you there.

As far as the campaign is going, I've updates the site, I hope you like it. No news from the parliamentary approach. The NFU legal chap is going to have a look at it in a couple of weeks when his schedule clears. The countryside Alliance are desperately trying to find an MP even remotely interested in sporting land access issues. I have written to Nature England, a branch of DEFRA who are responsible for Access and recreational access issues. So lets see how that goes, hopefully I'll have some positive news to announce at Westward Ho!