LETTER: Passionate village to reckon with

I moved to the village 18 months ago from London to find our piece of country idyll so my young children can grow up in green fields with sweet-smelling air around a happy community, as I did growing up in Cornwall.

What a heart-breaking reality we have moved in to - our countryside, village and mental calm torn apart by a gung-ho mining company, politicians who won’t listen to our concerns and a media who are disproportionally interested in overplaying village division (when in fact, as the recent poll confirmed, there is little divide: the majority of the village stand against hydro-carbon exploration).

Our family’s life in Balcombe has been a rollercoaster with obvious lows, but wow, there have been some highs: meeting people I would never have come across in my daily life who are giving up their free time, work time (and sleep time!) to fight on their and others’ behalves; seeing mums from the school gate stand up for their children; watching FFRBA form, a collection of people I am amazed and in awe of.

My short time in Balcombe has shown me that this is a village to reckon with - our strong, intelligent, passionate residents represent the very best of the British countryside and I am proud to stand with them, welly-to-welly.

GEORGIA LAWE

Mill Lane, Balcombe