/  247
 
Saved
 This is the inside story of how a small community took on themight of a 
£
1 billion development plan that would have destroyedtheir village, and the protected countryside around it. Funny,shocking and sensational by turn,
Saved 
represents a real
-
liferecord of a rare victory of local democracy over greed.D
 AVID
H
EWSON
was born in Yorkshire in 1953. A journalist fromthe age of seventeen, most recently for the
Sunday Times,
his firstnovel,
Semana Santa
, was filmed with Mira Sorvino. His seriesfeaturing the Roman detective Nic Costa has been publishedaround the world.‘…this is not a story about Nimbyism. It is about right versus wrong; about transparency versus secrecy; about truth versus lies;about democracy versus authoritarianism. It also indicates why journalists are both necessary to a society and yet so often un
-
loved.’
 Roy Greenslad 
e 
, Professor of Journalism, City University ‘David Hewson writes thrillers.
Saved 
is a real life thriller,exposing the sham of “local democracy”. A must for all those wanting to save their countryside and communities from theconcrete mixers and the planning fixers.’
 Robin Pag 
e 
, broadcaster and writer‘This is a fascinating book, full of insights into the workings of local politics, new, web
-
based ways of campaigning, di
ff 
erent en
-
 vironmental tactics, and institutions as powerful as they are unac
-
countable. As a result of a wonderfully e
ff 
ective campaign, thislittle corner of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Kent issafe
 – 
for now. But as the author himself points out, the agents of the kind of wholly unsustainable development that is still eroding our countryside will never give up and never go away. With localdemocracy in such a state of disrepair, in so many parts of theland, many more battles of this kind will still need to be fought.’
 Jonathon Porrit 
t
, Founder Director, Forum for the Future

Saved by David Hewson

Download this Document for FreePrint
This is a private document.

Info and Rating

davidhewson

Share & Embed

More from this user

Recent Readcasters

Add a Comment

Characters: ...

gironasueleft a comment

Have just read preview - sounds fascinating - went to Kent University ( Canterbury ) many years ago and come from Bromley originally. Living now in Girona catalunya and the campaign is only now beginning here to save and conserve villages, coastline etc from rampant development ( though it is better than the rest of Spain which has just received warnings from the EU (bit late). It proves that by standing up to things and getting involved you can achieve a worthwhile outcome and is an inspiration to all - well done.
04 / 12 / 2009
Reply

Rough Cibernusleft a comment

excelent work, !!! nice job, a perfect example how some of the corporations act in search of economic power.
01 / 28 / 2009
Reply

davidhewsonleft a comment

Hi Macro. I think Scribd is a fantastic way to get stories like this out to a wider audience. What happened in Wye was about much more than a little village in England. It was about entire communities being disempowered and deceived by some of the very bodies they though they could trust. I hope the message of Saved is that with a lot work, talent, support and luck these battles can be won. Scribd is doing us all a favour in allowing this message to get out there.
08 / 01 / 2008
Reply

Chris Nashleft a comment

David, Thank you so much for sharing the story of your hard work, dedication, and experiences with Scribd members. Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this all is, while you certainly had 'colorful' characters on all sides, the real villains of this piece are the faceless corporations which of course remain remote and untouchable. Hopefully this book will go on not only to explain events in Wye to a much larger audience, but help others faced with similar campaigning issues. Perhaps even this document-sharing technology will have a part to play :)
08 / 01 / 2008
Reply

Fiona L Cooperleft a comment

A gripping account of local individuals successfully taking on a powerful, money-grabbing corporation. I'm so pleased your exposing of Imperial's deceit and greed forced their plan to fail. It is easy to see that the Wye Future Group, operating strictly above-board and through the proper channels, would never have managed the complete victory you caused. It is sobering to see the utter powerlessness of the ordinary person when faced with an organisation which has the means and the intention to do what it likes, regardless of the rights of the people its actions will affect most of all. Unfortunately, there are far too many instances in the world today of huge corporations riding roughshod over people's homes and livelihoods, without the slightest qualm. We need more people like you and Justin who are able and willing to ferret out these injustices and make them public. Thank you for your part in saving your village from destruction. For the time being, at least.
07 / 29 / 2008
Reply