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| May 2002 Report of the Coxwell Advisory Committee held on the 14th May 2002 Although it was an interesting meeting no decisions were reached other than to report to the next full Council Meeting on the 10th July. Discussion however was vigorous and constructive. Two points of view were put forward. Councillor Hickmore favoured a Trust being set up which would act as a buffer between the Council and the site's management group. He also considered it important to remember that the site will be a gift in perpetuity and that a trust would protected it from the vagaries of local government. At one extreme is the possibility that future councillors, whether elected or appointed, may have strongly differing views regarding the site's management from the sympathetic and enthusiastic attitudes that prevail at the moment. At the other extreme is the possibility that future central government decisions regarding local government may bring about dramatic changes to the present three tier system of Local Councils, District Councils and County Councils. The alternative view was that the site's management group should be directly responsible to the Parks and Outside Committee of the Council . RIGS strongly favours the trust route, not only for the reasons argued by Councillor Hickman but also because the trust would be a charity, governed by the rules of the Charity Commission, and as such would be eligible for a much wider range of grant support. In addition such a trust would also be able to approach Oil Companies for grant support. We were able to make these points in support of Councillor Hickmore and must now hope that we will eventually get a satisfactory resolution to this issue when the Council meet in early July. Although the meeting on the 14th went smoothly I am afraid that we have since learnt of a hiccup in other aspects of the process. In the north eastern corner of the site the land-fill is at its deepest - about 12 metres. The original plan of the builders was not to build in this corner and simply to cover it with top soil and grass it over. The Planning authorities of the District Council however have now decided that this is not sufficient. I grit my teeth at this decision but accept that this is a prudent attitude on the part of the Council. Dealing with the problem will be expensive and Builders Ede are proposing to remove completely this contaminated land -fill , replacing it with safe fill material. To cover the cost of this job they are proposing to build a further four or five houses on this corner of the site. This of course will all require the agreement of the Planning Authority which we hope will be forthcoming. I will 'up-date' you as the news breaks!! If any of you have any thoughts or comments on these issues please feel free to contact me Any relevant comments will be appreciated. Finally, hopefully we will eventually have to get together a group of possible Trustees and a Management Committee. If any of you feel that you might be prepared to act in either of these capacities please let me know. Obviously much will depend on the terms and conditions under which any Trust or Management Group is set up, and at this stage I am asking for no more than an expression of interest. It is important however, particulalry from the point of view of grant applications to the various grant giving bodies, that we have stong evidence of participation by local residents. Your support will be greatly appreciated. Norman Snelling. |
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