The opening sentence of the second paragraph states that the event was the “biggest public meeting anyone in Lampeter can remember”, well it wasn’t. Not that most of the attendees would actually know, as the vast majority of them don’t live in or anywhere near Lampeter. This fact would have been plainly obvious to Ms Lawrence had she a). taken a little time to look over the delegate list that was provided to those who had booked a place at the meeting, and
b). actually spoken to the meetings attendees with the thoroughness one would expect from a columnist writing for one of Britains largest broadsheets.

I estimate, that out of the 450 people who are said to have attended this event, only some 15-20% of them where actually from Lampeter, or from the immediate locality. I would also like to emphasise that the local business community was barely represented at all, I would estimate somewhere in the region of half a dozen business owners where present, not exactly a promising turnout. If Transition Culture wishes to involve Lampeters general public by “engaging people on a heart level” (I quote Mr Hopkins answering a question from the floor) then surely they must be the ones who are consulted with, and not an audience whose majority will be largely unaffected (if in fact at all) by the scheme.

I look forward to the next meeting, and hope that the soil association and Transition Culture can muster a little more support within the local community of Lampeter itself. After all if this scheme is to be a success, these are the people who need to be convinced.