WE were delighted to read Mr Kear's letter of support for our effort in saving the Wilderness Centre for the community.

Many people will have fond memories of their own environmental education trips to the Plump Hill day visit centre and The Wilderness residential centre.

From the outset, the county council has set the community a big challenge to raise the purchase price for both The Plump Hill Centre and The Wilderness Centre along with the start-up costs that any new enterprise has. We have had to accept the reality that in order to save the Wilderness Centre, the Board of The Wilderness Project, formed out of the Friends Association, has conceded that the county council could sell the Plump Hill Centre on the open market.

Agreeing to this increases our capacity to at least purchase the Wilderness Centre. We were forced to take this decision with a very heavy heart.

Now that the Friends no longer have first refusal to purchase the Plump Hill Centre, perhaps there are others in the community who may wish to purchase it with the option of leasing it to The Wilderness Project for continued use as an environmental education centre for the Forest of Dean?

Sustained public support is essential to us as we continue to negotiate with the county council. We would like to reassure you that we are continuing to work hard to ensure that this valuable resource remains in community ownership.

One recurring question from our supporters is "Why is the community having to buy an asset it already owns?" Now that the community has been engaged in a 12 month effort to acquire the Wilderness Centre we hope that the council will acknowledge community wishes and transfer the property forthwith, without the need to purchase.

This goodwill measure would allow us to invest community funds in the start-up and development costs of running this much needed and totally viable environmental resource.

To keep up to date with what's happening we would recommend a visit to our new website: http://www.thewildernessproject.org.uk">http://www.thewildernessproject.org.uk

– The Wilderness Project Board: Trevor Roach, David Garnett, Sally Morley, Bob Boulter, Paul Vare, Jane Cordier, Iain Baird, Cheryl Barnes.