Freedom of Information Decision - 20 May 2024
SKILLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Request for Information Decision
Date of request: 29/4/2024 for request 7 listed in a total of 10. All other items responded to earlier.
Date of decision: 20/5/2024
Request:
1. Copies of all correspondence relating to the current situation with regards the paddock including records of minutes, phone calls, emails and letters. Also to include details about all other expressions of interests and when they were received.
Decision:
In accordance with Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you are advised that Skillington Parish Council does hold information that falls within the description specified in your request.
1. The parish council holds the information and it is attached. Information relating to individuals and personal data has been redacted.
If information has been refused, please treat this as a Refusal Notice for the purposes of the Act.
Your right of appeal:
If you have any queries regarding this decision, please contact the Clerk to the Parish Council.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request an internal review of our decision (within 40 days of this decision notice) you should write to:
Skillington Parish Council, 9 Telford Way, Colsterworth, Grantham, NG33 5GH Email address: clerk.spc@gmail.com
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint / the Internal Review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Most of the information that we provide in response to the Freedom of Information act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations 2004 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by the Council. The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated by the information itself.
22.4.22
Hello [REDACTED]
I hope you are well?
I just wanted to ask your advise on something please? My family and I live in [REDACTED], Skillington. We know that there is a community field that is currently being rented to a young person with a horse in the village.
I'm not too sure how these things work but I was wondering if we could register our interest in the land (or any other community land) if it were to become available, please? Our [REDACTED] has a horse and pony and we would love to have one/or both near us.
We would also be interested in any other nearby land (to buy or rent) if you knew of anything?
Best wishes,
[REDACTED]
Dear [REDACTED],
Thank you for getting in touch. If the field becomes available, I'll certainly contact you - I'll ask at the next PC meeting if anyone knows of any land available to rent.
Regards,
[REDACTED]
22.2.24
Dear [REDACTED],
Regarding your enquiry about the paddock a year or so ago. We have just been given notice by the current tenant of the paddock in Skillington. It should become vacant on around the 1st May. You may already have a more permanent arrangement, but I thought I'd inform you.
Regards,
[REDACTED]
27.2.24
Hi [REDACTED],
Many thanks for letting me know. Yes we are very interested in renting it. Can I ask how much land there is and if there’s anyone we can chat to about it?
Would it be possible to call you about it tomorrow please?
Best wishes, [REDACTED]
28.3.24
Dear [REDACTED],
Thank you for your email and phone call. I am away until Saturday night, so I will let you know the paddock size and other details on Monday. I hope that is alright.
Regards, [REDACTED]
6.3.24
Hi [REDACTED],
I hope you are well?
I was just wondering if you had any more details about the land please?
I have few specific questions if that’s OK?
-
Can I ask if there is water connected please?
-
Is the field shelter staying, or does it belong to the person currently renting?
-
Do you know how big the plot is?
-
There’s a field behind the land and I was wondering if you know if we could rent that too? Or do you know who it belongs to?
-
Is there any hard standing in the field, or is there potential to put some in?
-
How much is the rent please?
Very best wishes, [REDACTED]
7.3.24
Dear [REDACTED],
Sorry for the delay, but I am trying to find out further answers to your questions. The information I can give you now is - the size of the Paddock is 1.19 ha. The field shelter was put up around 8 years ago by the current tenant - [REDACTED], so it would probably be best to have a chat to her, to see if she is likely to leave it or not. The other part of the paddock is owned by [REDACTED], and it has been as a conservation area in memory of his late wife. Again, you will need to have a chat to him, if you wish to rent this too.
The rent is £600 pa payable quarterly in advance. I will need to find out if any water is connected and will let you know.
Regards, [REDACTED]
15.3.24
Hi [REDACTED],
Many thanks for the information. We are really interested in renting the field. Is it possible to let me have [REDACTED] contact details please? It would be really useful to speak to her about the field shelter and also if there is a water supply. What would be the next step if we were to rent the field?
Best wishes, [REDACTED]
18.3.24
Dear [REDACTED],
Many thanks for the information. We are really interested in renting the field. Is it possible to let me have [REDACTED] contact details please? It would be really useful to speak to her about the field shelter and also if there is a water supply. What would be the next step if we were to rent the field?
Best wishes, [REDACTED]
18.3.24
Dear [REDACTED],
I have a landline number for [REDACTED]. She lives at [REDACTED] so you could always go and see her. Her email address is [REDACTED].
I'm sure she would be the person to direct all your questions to. If you then wish to proceed, I'll need to send you a rental agreement. Normally we do them for a period of three years. Would that be acceptable to you?
Regards, [REDACTED]
28.3.24
Dear [REDACTED],
I don't know whether you have had a chance to contact [REDACTED] yet. I was wondering how many horses you were proposing to potentially keep in the paddock? I ask this because someone else has contacted one of our Councillors, who is also keen on renting the paddock. I don't know whether he has one, or more horses or ponies, but if you have only one, we could potentially split the space.
Also, the small area which is quite boggy on the left, we'd had a proposal to plant a small community orchard on the lower part. The horse shelter, if it remains, wouldn't be affected by this proposal, but the area would be reduced slightly.
Please let me know if you have any concerns about this.
Regards, [REDACTED]
28.3.24
Hello [REDACTED],
Many thanks for the update. I have rung [REDACTED] and left a message but haven’t heard back from her yet.
I was wondering if it would it be OK to enter the field and have a look around at the weekend if I haven’t heard from [REDACTED]. My daughter is back for the Bank Holiday and she would really like to look around if that’s possible.
We have two horses which we’d like you to keep together if that’s OK? I’m not too sure if there would be enough land for any more but happy to chat about it.
The orchard sounds like a good plan for the boggy part of the field. Do you know how much of the field it would potentially be please?
Very best wishes, [REDACTED]
Fri, 29 Mar,
19:50
Paddock tenant to [REDACTED], Clerk
Hi [REDACTED],
More than happy for you to have a look at the field, the gate has a lock around it, so you'll just need to climb over.
We do have a field shelter, it's in good condition and does have rubber matting down as well. We just need to clear out the bed. I had planned on selling the field shelter and advertising it this week, so if you are interested, we can certainly have a chat about it. We also have a load of electric fence posts, Electric tape, wooden hay feeders and tarpaulins and pallets which we used for hay that I am also looking to sell.
If you're interested let me know a good time and we can have a chat.
Best Wishes
[REDACTED]
29.3.24
Dear [REDACTED],
I have recently spoken to [REDACTED] about the Paddock. She had reminded me that it really would only be suitable for one pony, so if you have several, this might be a problem. Also, will the water situation be resolvable? There is no supply in the paddock, which I thought I'd better make you aware of.
Best wishes, [REDACTED]
Hello [REDACTED],
I hope you are having a nice Easter break? I was wondering if you could send a copy of the contract please?
Best wishes, [REDACTED]
6.4.24
Dear [REDACTED],
I'm sorry I haven't responded very quickly to your last email. This is because the situation regarding the paddock tenancy changed unexpectedly, and put the Parish Council in a difficult position. Having said that she wished to relinquish the tenancy because of her intention to move house, [REDACTED] informed us that she has a potential buyer (two previous sales having fallen through), who wants to rent the paddock, and the buyer has made that a condition of the sale (albeit that it belongs to the Parish Council).
Obviously we are faced with a lot of pressure, not to lose her the sale.
Therefore, if it goes ahead, we feel we are obliged to agree to this new person taking on the tenancy of the paddock.
Therefore, I'm sorry to say that for the time being, we are not able to offer the paddock tenancy to you after all. However, if you still wish it, we will ensure that if this doesn't work out, we will certainly come back to you.
In deciding what to do, we have also taken into account the fact that the paddock has no water or electricity. [REDACTED] adjacent property means this problem is dealt with.
I can only apologise for for this.
7.4.24
I am [REDACTED] husband. [REDACTED] has forwarded me your email below and has asked me to reply.
As you can imagine this is extremely surprising and disappointing news. In fact, we are very upset by it and find it to be unfair and unacceptable. It is not in [REDACTED] gift to include the paddock in the sale of her house. We are surprised that the Parish Council is enabling [REDACTED] to benefit financially by making promises of land that she does not own and for which, others have waited years for.
Having waited patiently for this paddock for some time, it is unjust to allow it to be included in the terms of a private sale and to permit someone to effectively 'jump the queue' by insisting that it is included in the sale. It is also morally questionable that [REDACTED] marketed the property by saying that the paddock could be included in the terms of the sale and then, judging by your email below, apparently holds the Parish Council to ransom for personal gain. It also presents a very troubling precedent for the Council. Neither have you considered what our family's present circumstances could be and the fact that the field has no power or water is irrelevant.
Therefore, after taking legal advice, we have to inform you that, if you do go ahead and allow this public land to be included in the sale of a private property, we will have no option but to begin legal action against Skillington Parish Council to block it. Clearly we would prefer to not have to do this but we are sure that you can see how unfair this is. The sale of [REDACTED] house is a private matter. We hope that she is able to sell her house without the land but we certainly don't intend to be disadvantaged by it.
We would appreciate an early response to our email please. If we don't hear from you by close of business on Tuesday 9 April with your intentions we will engage our solicitor to act on our behalf.
8.4.24
Mon, 8 Apr, 11:42 (3 days ago)
to [REDACTED]
Dear [REDACTED],
I understand your frustration and you are by no means the only person to be disappointed by this. However, using legal means may not be the answer to your paddock problem. Knowing that you may be disappointed by this news, I have been making enquiries with regard to other, perhaps more suitable paddocks, or portions of fields for your use.
As you know, the PC paddock has no running water and no electricity supplied, so practically, it has always made sense for us to rent it to someone who was near enough to run a hosepipe to the paddock and to be able to run an extension cable from a nearby supply. Also, as explained in an earlier email, it is our intention to make the lower and wetter part of the paddock into a Community Orchard. Therefore the size of paddock will be reducing in due course.
However, [REDACTED] owns the upper portion of the Paddock and his half does have a water supply. Added to the fact that it is higher up the hill, it is a less wet pasture in the winter. Also, the Clark's, Buckminster Estate and Easton Estate all farm around the village and might recommend other suitable pasture. Someone had recently mentioned that land on Grantham Road may well also have portions of field may be available.
I hope this may provide a practical solution for you.
Regards, [REDACTED]
8.4.24
Dear [REDACTED],
Many thanks for your email below. I would be grateful if you could keep my wife, [REDACTED], in copy please [REDACTED]).
One of the reasons that we moved to Skillington some years ago was the potential that we could rent the paddock. Therefore, when we arrived we immediately put our name onto the waiting list and trusted that the process would be managed fairly by the Parish Council. We investigated other options locally but there were none, including some of the options that you listed.
Unfortunately none of the ideas that you proposed are specific and all previous attempts to acquire pasture land from local farmers have drawn a blank. We have a retired pony that needs a home and we were relying on the paddock. I am serving my country abroad and options further out from the village are not feasible or practicle. Your decision will cause hardship and distress and we now might need to make difficult decisions regarding the pony because of it.
Regarding the water and power issue, again, that is really irrelevant. In fact we had already arranged to acquire a small water bowser and power was not required. If it were required we have a portable generator which would have catered for any needs. To now state that you would only rent to neighbouring properties seems disingenuous and was never stated previously. It is also contradicted by your earlier email where you say that we could be the next in line after [REDACTED] buyers have finished with the paddock (whenever that would be, presumably it would be several years in the future).
We have therefore sought legal advice and have now engaged a solicitor to look to challenge your decision. Clearly this is not a situation to anyone’s benefit but you have left us with no choice and we are outraged by the preferential treatment that you have show to [REDACTED] and her buyer in order for them to complete a personal financial transaction. At best, the decision to rent the paddock to the buyer of [REDACTED] house in order for her to secure a sale is morally questionable and it has trampled over our rights. We would also argue that you have now set a legal precedent whereby the new owner of the house could carry on this practice and gain a financial advantage by treating the paddock as if it were their own in any future house sale.
We have been advised by our solicitor to also raise an official complaint. We would be grateful if you could send full details about your complaint process and also the escalation process to the next level of oversight (we presume that this is SKDC but would appreciate confirmation). We would also appreciate copies of your policies regarding the use of the paddock and management of the waiting list as well as a copy of the contract which we have requested a number of times before but has not been forthcoming. We would also like to request that the paddock is not rented out to anyone until our complaint has been fully heard, and any subsequent appeals lodged.
We’d be grateful if the Chair of the Parish Council could be informed of this situation.
Kind regards
[REDACTED]