New board of Newbury and District Agricultural Society voted in after coup over the future of the Newbury Showground in Chieveley
The Newbury Showground has elected new leadership after a membership coup sent the previous board packing.
The new team has vowed to keep the showground out of the hands of developers.
They each submitted a short manifesto to members who cast around 450 votes - for a 25 per cent turnout - to put four new faces in charge of the Newbury and District Agricultural Society.
The 1,500 strong membership went against the previous board’s plans to sell off part of the showground near Chieveley to developers - to balance the books after claiming it had fallen into financial difficulty.
It prompted an extraordinary general meeting in September, at which the move was overwhelmingly kicked out, prompting the then board to admit defeat and step down.
The most recent meeting, held at the Showground barn, saw around 100 people attend in person.
Local farm businessman Steve Ackrill, who lead the campaign forcing the Society into an extraordinary general meeting to overturn moves to sell, got the most votes.
“I don’t underestimate the amount of work we have to do,” he said. “But we are all looking forward to the challenge. We have not yet had a board meeting to discuss next steps, but we are all singing from the same hymn sheet for the future of the ground.
“Promotion of agriculture remains the primary objective here.”
Eight candidates put themselves forward, with four being elected to the board. Only one previous ex officio board member will stay - Steve Coventry was the previous vice chair of the Show Council board.
The new board is due to meet in the next few weeks, and is expected to discuss the viability of putting on another agricultural show.
Earlier this year, more than 500 people had responded to an online poll run by the Save The Showground group, with 98 per cent in favour of keeping ownership with the Society.
The 177-acre site, which is located in a prime spot at the crossroads of the M4 and A34 at Chieveley, has been home to the Royal County of Berkshire Show since 1984.
However, substantial six figure losses from the 2018 and 2019 shows, combined with a fall in showground lettings income, a large bank loan and the reduction in free cash reserves meant even before the pandemic the Society’s finances were "not in good shape".
The Society added that the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 shows due to the pandemic then "made things much worse”.
The previous society board refused to comment both before and after last night’s meeting.
The new board members are Steve Ackrill, (348 votes), David Barr, (323), Nick Wallis, (321), Judith Marcham (290), and ex oficio Steve Coventry.
