BEST WISHES FOR 2001 FROM YOUR COMMITTEE: Alison Hulme, Pete Cain, Tim Tuke, Joan Acton, Fergus Cochrane and Al Stanton.

FREE EXTENDED MEMBERSHIP: We have not used all the money for sending out newsletters etc., so we are pleased to tell you that your membership is valid for an additional year! Over the summer our membership has continued to increase. We now have 124 members.

FUND-RAISING: We have now raised a total of £6500. The money is a combination of personal donations and commercial sponsorship. For example:

£5000 from the Bank of Scotland

£500 from Deutche Bank

MANAGEMENT PLAN: Any project needs a plan. If you got a chance to read the SMAG brochure, you’ll see how we split ours into three "phases". Phase 1 is "Demolition ". The Council voted to get us Landfill Tax to pay for it. Scottish Wildlife Trust is working on a Superplan for the site that covers Phases 2&3. This takes our ideas and adds a lot of detail. The Superplan will help us apply for grants for Phases 2&3.

NEXT KEY DATE: Midlothian Council have changed the Local Plan in a number of ways. One is to back the SMAG proposals for a Wildlife Site. The first stage of the Public Inquiry into the Local Plan changes will take place on Tuesday 9th Jan 2001. We will get a better idea from this how any objection from the would-be housing developer will be handled.

Pete Cain - Convenr