The government has also set up a Regional Development Agency and the SW Council of Faiths has seen the RDA's draft plan for the region which is full of buzzwords like economic development, business efficiency and sustainable prosperity - and comes across to all the members of our Council as lacking a certain spiritual dimension which we would like to insert into it. This is the first challenge for a group with representatives from different religions who nevertheless share some common values around such topics as community, the environment and the special quality of life in the SW Region.

Annie and George agree an essentially Green agenda which they want to pursue within the Council of Faiths, and want to hear of any general or specific issues that concern pagans in the SW. We will try and come to your moots and meetings - it is too early to say if we can provide a pagan voice that through our faiths representative can affect the corridors of power to any degree - but it would be foolish to neglect the opportunity to try, and we hope to run with it.

Because the needs of people in the SW will often follow a conventional agenda of jobs and housing, but the pagan constituency includes green activists and travellers, George has written a paper suggesting that the region has a Special Development Fund, to promote experimental low impact and community schemes. And we have been to the Tinkers' Bubble community in Somerset on a fact finding mission, to report back to the Council.

The RDA may well come up with plans for big development, resource extraction and the like which pagans will naturally disapprove of, and we will be watching for this, and trying to inform the community about it in advance. Anyone who contacts us will get themselves listed as part of a communication network. If a group can form which can support the pagan faith members, including financially, we would be extremely grateful - the Churches have resources but we have no funding. for our travel, printing, phone bills and the like.