Interview: Cherish Chilbolton - Nicola Revolta

“It started at that meeting last December: their ‘vision’ was more of a nightmare.”

It’s a story we’ve heard before, but in this case it led Nicola Revolta to become a member of the action group “Cherish Chilbolton”.

“I felt quite incensed by that meeting,” she says. She started going to Parish Council meetings, checking the CPC website and reading chilbolton.news.

“I wanted to increase my knowledge and awareness,” she admits. “I found it very unsettling, but I realised that we ourselves had to fight, rather than rely on others.”

Nicola has experience in countryside matters. She worked for CPRE The Countryside Charity working in the Hampshire branch on communications, planning and liaising with local contacts, including Moya Grove of Chilbolton.

She said to herself “I’ve got the time, and many of the younger people don’t.” So she joined at one of the early Cherish Chilbolton meetings. What she found was a group of people who “want to protect and preserve Chilbolton, and not allow the Village to be damaged by over-development.”

We ask what the main issue is, at the moment. “Getting the message out,” she replies.

“We’ve got a Facebook group which has over a hundred members, and I’m currently in the process of setting up an Instagram account.”

What about people who don’t use social media?

“We have an information sheet that provides more detail than our original leaflet,” she points out, but adds “We’ll be distributing that, but we need more word of mouth. People who feel strongly about the 75-homes need to get out and talk to their neighbours to let them know what’s happening.”

We touch on a trickier subject. We ask “we’re aware that some people in the Village have concerns over mentioning the Painter family. Why have Cherish Chilbolton done that?”

Nicola answers: “James Painter has put in an application for a 75-home development. He’s the person we need to direct our communications to. The leaflet mentions the Painter Family because they are the ‘generational farming family’. They’re supposed to be protecting the land that they’re now going to be making money from.”

What if residents want to get more involved?

“There are four people you can contact. We can provide posters to put in your window or laminated posters to put on wheely bins and gates.”

The four contacts are:

Catherine Watson - 07759 718076, cmawatson@hotmail.co.uk

Julie Connor - 07879 274872 or 01264 861311, julieconnor97@hotmail.co.uk

Nicola Revolta - 07881 825077, nicolarevolta@gmail.com

Peter Collis - 07973 235632, peter.r.collis@gmail.com

As we wind down, we ask what brought Nicola to Chilbolton.

“It’s the tranquillity, the dark skies and the far-reaching views, she says. “Duncan and I spent a long time looking and we’ve found a lovely home in a lovely village. We don’t take it for granted.”

She pauses, then adds “Cherish Chilbolton wants to be part of the solution, and wants to make a positive difference. I like that.”