City Farm riding arena (in the park)

[Deleted]

My request for a copy of the planning permission documents for the city farm from the 1990s has been delayed. What a surprise.

[Deleted]

I've just noticed that late last month the city farm was given another £16,000 towards its riding arena by the county council. Now they're in my gunsight as well. Speaking of which, this evening I shot a gun for the first time in my life - a 28 gauge shotgun; I hit the target with both barrels - that pumpkin won't be causing anyone any more misery, ha ha!

[Joe K]

I wonder what Tom Wilson will think of the Farm getting that money, while the Church got nothing? Of course, we don't know how much was asked, only what people get. Or can that be found out?

I see that my last comment to the application on the 10th of October, pointing out how the new documents were misdated, has made it to the documents page. Will it make any difference, I wonder? Still waiting to hear what Julain Wain has to say?

glcstrplnng12.co.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=externalDocuments&keyVal=MPO8VKHMC0000

[Deleted]

According to the article on page 35 of Monday's Citizen, it was the full amount that they had applied for.

I've put in an FOI request to the county council about the award of the grant.

[Joe K]

Ah, I remember that article now. I kind of skipped over it, as the lavishing of tens of thousands on unaccountable groups is becoming depressing, plus the article didn't even specify if it was the city or county council...

£600k given out by council to help improve community buildings

Meanwhile, the BTNP keeps a low profile...

[Joe K]

This just arrived in the mail...

'The above application has been withdrawn by the applicant and therefore will not be determined by the Council.

You will be notified of any future planning application at this property. If you require any further information please feel free to contact me on the above telephone number [01452 396783].


Yours sincerely

Gavin Jones
Planning Officer'

Website confirms it: glcstrplnng12.co.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MPO8VKHMC0000

So after all the hedging and plain ignoring of correspondence, a result.

There may be a fresh application, but who knows what land it will cover? At least there should, if the Friendship Café have any sense at all, be a proper consultation...

[Deleted]

Nov 7, 2013 10:04:14 GMT Joe K said:

Ah, I remember that article now. I kind of skipped over it, as the lavishing of tens of thousands on unaccountable groups is becoming depressing, plus the article didn't even specify if it was the city or county council...

£600k given out by council to help improve community buildings

Meanwhile, the BTNP keeps a low profile...

Actually, the article had a different title in The Citizen - it was headed 'City farm celebrates as it gets £16,000 grant'.

I expect that the planning application will now be rewritten and resubmitted. This is just one battle, not the end of the war.

[Joe K]

I guess they might be thinking you'll drop your action against them because of this withdrawal. I personally wouldn't, and I hope they don't think they can casually drop my complaint into the waste bin. No clean slate.

You might like to mention what a good idea it would be if some of that £16,000, if it can't be used now, goes to St. James' Church instead, to fix up their loos and stuff. The one time I used them (it, really), they did seem quite primitive.

£600k grants dished out to Gloucestershire community groups

And tell them I'd comment if I could

[Deleted]

Yes, I remember that a few years ago the loo in the church wasn't that good. I, too, would be happy to see the money going to the maintenance and improvement of the church's facilities, as it is actually used by a wide range of community groups. The city council has nothing to do with the grants, though; they're from the county council. I've already put in a FOI request to see the documentation relating to the grant for the city farm.

I intend turning up yet again to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting tomorrow evening, unless I get the result that I want from Julian Wain's review into the whole issue. At the very least, that result would have to be an admission that the chunk of St. James' Park should never have been leased to Gymnasian, and a rock solid promise that no planning permission will be granted for anything to be built on that land. Frankly, I don't really see that happening, so I will have another rant at the useless committee, then look at what legal action can be taken against the council. I would expect the next step to be a complaint to the Information Commissioner about the failure to answer my FOI requests.

[Deleted]

Joe, you didn't mention that you'd had a reply to your FOI question about the sell-off of part of St. James' Park. They are claiming that it was advertised, but of course it wasn't, as the advert didn't mention St. James' Park, only St. James' City Farm.

[Joe K]

Yes, I've gone to the library to examine the relevant copies of The Citizen. Of course, it was in the Notices section, which I gave up looking at years ago. The notification does refer to 'open space', but it's still murky.

My response:

Dear Ruth Silk,

The full text of the notification in question:

GLOUCESTER CITY COUNCIL LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 SECTION 123(2A) ST JAMES CITY FARM ALBANY STREET TREDWORTH GLOUCESTER

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Council of the City of Gloucester intends to dispose of land situated at Albany Street Tredworth Gloucester which forms part of an open space by way of the grant of a lease to Gymnasian, a registered charity, to continue the use as city farm.
Objections to the intended disposal must be made in writing and addressed to the Head of Legal Services, Gloucester City Council, GL1 2EP to be received no later than 11 March 2011 Dated: 25 February 2011

S Mullins
Interim Head of Legal Services
North Warehouse
The Docks
Gloucester
GL1 2EP

Now, I could say a number of things about this. I could say that of the Citizen's dwindling readership, even fewer read the Notices section at the back of the paper, unless they're seeking an 'escort', or a 'massage'. I could say that any organisation with a genuine commitment to community involvement would not rely on such notifications, but advertise their intentions directly to residents. I could wonder about the meaning of that phrase, 'to continue the use as city farm'. Does it imply, incorrectly, that this piece of the park was already being used by the farm, or that its 'use' would change from the point of the lease?

I couldn't, however, say that I wasn't aware that the farm was planning to put a paddock up in the area between it and St. James' Church. That much did trickle through to me in my role as secretary of the neighbourhood partnership, so I can't claim the total ignorance of the 'disposal' that most Tredworth residents truthfully could, just the finer details.

However, what I definitely can say is that the disposal specifies 'farm use', not 'riding arena use'. I think I have a well-founded fear that if the arena is allowed to be built, it will be at the expense, perhaps entirely, of the farm, and Gymnasian have failed to give an assurance to the contrary.

The City Council and Gymnasian are going to have to address this issue before they think of putting forward another planning application for an arena.

[Deleted]

The address of the land is described as "ST JAMES CITY FARM ALBANY STREET TREDWORTH GLOUCESTER" and, as you have noticed, it is "to continue the use as City Farm". If it wasn't already part of the city farm, then that use cannot be continued. I also agree that building a riding arena is not continuing its use as either a city farm or public open space.

The reason that they haven't yet answered my FOI request about the planning permission for the city farm (which should have been answered by 1st November) is that it will show the lawful extent of the city farm. Still, they can't find reasons to delay that FOI request forever, as it doesn't involve any personal information, or too much information, or secret information related to a business, etc., and it was only given in the 1990s, so they can't claim to have lost the documents (or can they?).

I'm off to the council this evening to try to get the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to live up to their name - chance would be a fine thing!

[Deleted]

I've finally received all of the documentation relating to the original planning permission for the city farm. As I thought, it did not extend onto the area that has been earmarked for the riding arena.

I did turn up at yesterday's Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting before it started, but I didn't ask a question; I was promised that Julian Wain is finalising his report and it will be sent to me and the members of the committee very soon. I'm sure that when it is published it will be a wonder to behold; after all, you don't get to be CEO of Gloucester City Council without being an accomplished turd-polisher! He must have seen the original planning documents for the city farm so I'm just waiting to find out what justification he has for the apparent expansion.

[Deleted]

I've received Julian Wain's reply, and he's claiming that the council did nothing wrong. He says: "It is not unusual for such delegations to be made in respect of such leases when the principle has been agreed, both in respect of the terms and conditions and establishing the boundaries." So, the boundaries of the area could be 'established' (i.e. moved) by Phil Staddon,and no-one but the council and Gymnasian could possibly know about it, and that's all fine and dandy!

[Joe K]

Which suggests to me that they are going to try to get away with this. And why shouldn't they (try to)? Failing to could very well see a very nasty can of worms, labelled 'Phil Staddon' being turned over, and several heads looking to roll.

Never underestimate the power of politicians to put on a brazen face when facing financial penalties. Carol Francis is enough of an example.