Summer Party, Work Days and Baffling News from Council
Join us for Summer Party on Saturday 19 July and Work Days on Saturdays 10-12 noon on 12 April, 10 May, 14 June, 12 July.
Dear Friends,
We very much hope you will be able to join us for our Summer Party on the afternoon of Saturday 19 July - hold the date and we will send you more details shortly. If the weather forecast is terrible we may cancel but we will send an email and put a notice on our website. Also do join us for our Work Days on the above dates - it was a wonderful day at our first one of the year with lots of volunteers and loads of work done.
Here is an update of where things currently stand on the termination of our lease. On 6th March 2025 we participated in tripartite discussions with the Council and Dose of Nature on the basis that the Council intends to lease Pensford Field to Dose of Nature in September and to see if there was any prospect of there being a role for our charity in the future assuming this happens. The upshot of that meeting is that we are seeking more information from both the Council and Dose of Nature about their future plans and the contents of the lease to Dose of Nature. When we receive this, we will consider whether there is any future role for us.
We continue to make it clear that we do not think the Council can lawfully award a lease to Dose of Nature as it is not a recreational charity - the law requires this for the Council to avoid advertising its intentions to dispose of open space and invite objections. We are taking legal advice on this point and we understand the Council is too.
On 11 March 2025, we finally received a copy of the decision that was made by a Council official on the 6 September 2024 which only relates to the termination of our lease. On 12 March 2025, we were for the first time advised (indirectly from emails sent to a supporter by Council officials) that the decision to award a lease to Dose of Nature had not yet been made and that the grant will “follow due process.”
We have been in correspondence with the Leader of the Council, Gareth Roberts, and asked questions at several Council meetings since September 2024 - not once have we been told that the decision to award a lease to Dose of Nature had not yet been made! In December 2024, we asked why this had not been treated as a Key Decision requiring Committee approval because it impacted on two or more wards and/or it was controversial. The Leader stated at the Council meeting on 3 December 2024, that “at the time of making the decision it was not considered a controversial decision. “The response from the Council’s Director of Law and Governance on 14 January 2025 was "As the award of the Lease of Pensford Field does not meet the financial or the two-ward criteria it was not deemed to be a Key Decision. The Leader further stated at the Council meeting in October, the decision was not deemed controversial or politically sensitive…….” You are probably as confused as we are by the use of the past tense.
But shining a light on what was decided “when by whom” is a herculean task. We updated you last time on the baffling response dated 28 February from the Council to our Freedom of Information Request, first made on 3 November for communications between certain individuals. The Council is relying on a public interest excuse for withholding certain information. We had to ask for an internal review by the Council (which should take place within 20 days) before we can refer to the Information Commissioner. Our understanding is that the public interest test carries little weight once a decision is made public.
One of our Trustees also asked for information relating to the meetings referred to in the decision to terminate our lease and the same public interest excuse has been used.
So what is the reason for the Council’s continuing obfuscation? They know as well as us that the Information Commissioner will probably find against them. Why aren’t councillors concerned about this lack of transparency? Who is driving it?
We have now heard from the Local Government Ombudsman that they will investigate our complaint further having undertaken a preliminary review.
If you want to know why we just don’t give up and face the inevitable, our reply is that we are doing this for the wildlife and conservation. Pensford Field is almost unique in this Borough as a place where humans play second fiddle to wildlife - that is why we remain opposed to the building of structures in the field and why we believe it should be maintained by a charity with conservation as its core objective.
Thank you for your support. If you have not already read the article in the Times on Pensford Field, please do.
All best,
Sarah
Sarah Atkins
Chair of Pensford Field Environmental Trust
