FiT Statement from Jean Stainthorpe

editor's note:- this statement from Jean Stainthorpe is to correct statements previously made by APC

News item to AOL

Re APC Minutes of Meeting 8th August 24 From Jean Stainthorpe

I wish to publish comments I made at the meeting in Public Participation which were neither responded to at the meeting nor reported in the minutes (ref. item 24/88 second para 'A MOP read out a statement regarding the signing of the FIT deed').

I believe this refers to a topic I raised at that meeting (I did not read out a statement – I spoke from written notes) refuting the allegation that the Fields in Trust (FIT) Deed of Dedication had been retained by an unnamed MOP until now, and that there had been no involvement in sending the Deed to FIT by the APC Clerk or Councillors.

In fact the sending and receipt of the signed Deed was carried out in the full knowledge of the clerk, Chair and other Councillors, as recorded in emails, and the document was handed to the clerk earlier this year.

For detailed explanation please read below:-

It was stated in the APC minutes of 29 July 24/74 in May 23: 'In the last couple of weeks, it has come to light that the Deed of Dedication, signed by APC Councillors, was sent to Fields in Trust (FIT) in May 2023 by a member of the public and that this person has had the returned signed deed in his possession for all of this time. There was no involvement in the sending of these documents by the Clerk or any Councillor'

From my knowledge of events, I disagree absolutely with the above statement.

As a Parish Councillor and Chair of the Turnpike Field Working Group (TFWG) at the time, I and the Vice-chair, a community member of TFWG, had been progressing the FIT Deed of Dedication since September 2022, as recorded specifically in Notes of TFWG Meeting 5 Sep 22 and APC Meeting 14 Nov 22.

The TFWG included another four Parish Councillors during that time, some of whom were on the Parish Council until very recently.

Work progressed, was discussed at and recorded in Notes of TFWG meetings, until the Deed of Dedication was signed at APC Meeting 15 May 23 item 11, following informal consultation with a solicitor as noted in TFWG Notes 6 Mar 23, and a majority vote in favour of Registration by Village residents in April 23.

On 16 May 23 the signed Deed of Dedication document was sent to FIT as recorded by email to the Clerk and Chair

The Deed of Dedication was returned with a requirement that the registration should be recorded by the Land Registry within three months.

At the APC Meeting on 12 June 23 ref 23/30 ii, progress on finalising the Deed of Dedication was deferred pending the outcome of the planning application and has been ever since. It was repeatedly stressed at TFWG meetings that the Land Registry notification needed to be progressed.

APC employed three different clerks during the period from May 23 to date, so for safe keeping the document was retained by myself as TFWG Chair and the TFWG Vice chair, until it was handed over to the APC chair and consequently the APC clerk earlier this year.

Note also that the correspondence address for the Parish Council is the clerk's home address. Again, due to the high turnover of clerks, it was agreed that the Solicitor's office address be used (this being the same address used by APC when the field was purchased).

Previous and current councillors did not realise that, in fact, the registration is legal even though confirmation has not been recorded with the Land Registry, so in that sense APC unwittingly have misled the public. However, we have always acted in good faith and with the interests of the community at heart.