Local green space goes up for auction as residents scramble to secure its future

Local residents scramble to try and save their local green from being sold ahead of a public auction scheduled for 2nd February.

Local residents Darren and Kristy Lewis have launched a Facebook Page. They are making enquiries in a bid to stop a parcel of land near their home being sold, potentially to someone looking to develop it.

— Crowd Fund Link – https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/saveheathgardensgreen?utm_term=BZ9gywQXW —

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UPDATE-21st January 2021 from Preserve the green on Heath Gardens

“We have this morning spoken directly to the owner of the land and discussed his willingness to sell prior to the auction. He is willing to sell and has had experience of similar community sales previously.

He made it clear that an offer of £10K would not be acceptable as he fully expects it to raise ‘considerably more than that sum’. No actual figures were discussed and he was very clear that only when a deposit was paid and contracts were signed would he remove the lot from the auction.

Having said that he did say that once the deposit was paid he would be happy to work with us and give us longer to raise the funds if required.

It seems to be clear that a purchase by STC will not be sanctioned, so it looks like the only way to secure the land is to raise the funds within the community.

To this end, Kristy has now set up a Crowdfunding page with JustGiving (https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/saveheathgardensgreen?utm_term=BZ9gywQXW) and we are talking to solicitors who would be willing to support us with the inevitable legal requirements that we will face.

A committee will have to be established, initially this will consist of Darren, Martin Dodd (of 28 Heath Gardens) and Nick Griffin (local resident and business owner) to get it started.

We welcome input from anyone for volunteers or recommendations. We have set the target for fund raising at £25,000 which is a substantial amount of money. We are convinced that we can achieve it given the huge amount of support we have already received. If the money raised fails to secure the purchase of the land we will return the donations, however, there may well be some costs incurred during the process. If this is the case the refunds will prorated.[/box]

Heath Gardens, in Walton, has a green at the end of it that has been placed up for public auction with Barnard Marcus auctioneers by its private owners. With a guide price of £10,000 + Fees, there’s local concern that the green will be developed and no longer be available for residents and their children to use as recreational space.

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The Preserve the green on Heath Gardens Facebook page has over 150 likes, and Darren and Kristy spoke to A Little Bit of Stone about what they’re trying to do:

“Our aim, as a group of local residents, is to secure the future of what we affectionately know as the green as a safe green space for the community.

Its position provides a safe route for many children to access both Walton Priory Middle School and Pirehill First School and is also an ideal communal area used by dog walkers and local residents to enjoy”

Should the land be sold to a third party, there are concerns that the land could be built upon, subject to a planning application being made and approved by Stafford Borough Council.

The parcel of land in question forms part of the Stone Neighbourhood Plan where Stone Town Council resolved that the site should be designated as a protected green space. The land was included in the draft Neighbourhood Plan on that basis; however, the Independent Examiner didn’t support this proposal and asked that the land be redesignated as local green infrastructure instead.  This was then covered by a new local green infrastructure policy CAF5 added to the Plan by the Town Council; this would give the land protection under Stafford Borough planning policy N4.

Unfortunately, the Neighbourhood Plan has not yet been approved,  Stafford Borough has supported the plan to move it to the referendum stage. For the plan to be approved, Stone residents at a referendum must support it before it is finally adopted.  The referendum was originally planned for May 2020 but was delayed to May 2021 in common with all elections due to the pandemic.  At this stage, however, even prior to the referendum, the Stone Neighbourhood Plan should have significant weight when Stafford Borough Council considers planning decisions. As we move towards a referendum A Little Bit of Stone will be running many articles on the plan so that people know what’s involved. You can see the current Stone Neighbourhood Plan on the SBC -> Stone Neighbourhood Plan Link

Local Walton town, borough and county councillor Jill Hood has been liaising with residents, as have Stone Town Conservative members Simon Bell and Steve Walley the later issuing a statement on their Facebook page calling on the site to be purchased by the Stone Independent ran Stone Town Council, an organisation they pinpoint with no aspirations to develop the land in the future.

The Stone Town Conservatives stating:

“Stone Town Council would be best placed to purchase the Green.

The Stone Independent Group (SIG) hold all the seats at Stone Town Council and their top manifesto pledge is to: “Ratify the Neighbourhood plan and continuing the fight to protect green spaces such as Tilling Drive”

– https://stoneindependents.org/our-manifesto/”

Further adding:

“There is nothing to stop Stone Town Council acquiring The Green. While the Stone Independent Group (SIG) consistently blame Stafford Borough Council (SBC) for the development of green spaces in Stone, on this occasion it is within both the manifesto remit and the financial ability of the Town Council to purchase the Green and protect the space against future development.

Stone Town Council demonstrably has the financial resources to purchase and preserve the Green: it recently spent £5,000 of local tax payers money, without consultation, on providing free weekend parking for shoppers in two Stone town centre parking areas.

Acquiring the Green would demonstrate that the Stone Independents are serious about delivering on their top manifesto pledge of fighting to protect green space in Stone. “

We asked both Stone Independent Group and Stone Town Council to comment on the proposal put forward by Stone Town Conservatives.

The Stone Independent Group issuing the following statement to A Little Bit of Stone:

“In an ideal world, it would be fantastic for Stone Town Council to be able to purchase the Heath Garden’s green and, indeed, all other designated Local Green Spaces(LGS)/Local Green Infrastructure(LGI) within Stone, making it very simple for them all to be protected from developers.

However, purchasing one site would mean purchasing all such sites that were put up for sale. After all, how could STC discriminate between sites as each one has its own particular value to those residents nearby? STC would be held to ransom by landowners and the costs could run into millions of pounds. A huge increase in Council Tax to Stone residents would be required. Moreover, some of these areas are owned by SBC, would we need to purchase those to protect them? Tilling Drive is a perfect example.

There were nearly 60 of these areas originally identified in the Stone Neighbourhood Plan (NP). Some were afforded LGS or LGI status by the Government Planning Inspector during his examination of the proposed NP.   A new Policy (CAF5) was drafted to include areas identified by the NP as LGI and to give them identified protection through policy N4 of the Plan for Stafford Borough.

Despite the NP waiting approval, a Government inspector has stated that “it is in an advanced stage and attracts significant weight” when planning decisions are taken.”

In response to the specific point about the Stone Independent Group consistently blaming Stafford Borough Council for the approving planning applications affecting Stone’s green spaces the group added:

“It does give us great concern that the local Stone Town Conservatives have no faith in their Conservative-controlled Borough Council Planning Committee to protect designated local green infrastructure such as at Heath Gardens and rigorously defend our Neighbourhood Plan (NP) which aligns to policy CAF5 and policy N4 of the Plan for Stafford Borough.    Those provisions are more than valid reasons to refuse any planning application.

Should a planning application be put forward for the plot of land at Heath Gardens Stone Independents will oppose the plans and our Ward Borough Councillor Jill Hood will ‘call in’ the plan to the SBC Planning Committee.”

Although Stone Independent Group control the town council the unelected town clerk, Les Trigg, is the responsible financial officer for the council. When we asked him about Stone Town Council purchasing the land he told us:

“As far as purchasing the land is concerned, that would be a decision for the Council. As the responsible financial officer for the organisation, however, I would undoubtedly recommend against such a proposal due to the precedent it would set.

There are around 50 sites currently designated as either local green infrastructure or local green space in the Neighbourhood Plan, and once the Council had set the precedent of purchasing one to prevent development it would be extremely difficult for it to refuse demands to purchase others at a significant potential cost to Stone’s Council Tax payers.

In my view, it would be financially irresponsible for the Council to put itself into this position.”

You can follow the latest developments on the Preserve the green on Heath Gardens Facebook page.