Group's thanks for support during battle to stop Sheffield Council selling off donated park land

Last year, the Friends of Graves Park lost their long-running bid to stop Sheffield Council selling off any more of the land donated by J.G. Graves in the early 20th century.

As a result of their loss, the group were forced to pay the £31,000 costs of the court case, money which was raised by donations from members of the public.

Group chair, Caroline Dewar, who lives in Norton Lees, said the group were still bitterly disappointed by the outcome, but wanted to say thank you to those who supported them.

“I am gutted - I really don’t understand where we went wrong,” she says.

“But there were hundreds of people who donated money and I want to say thank you to them.

“We know that you cared and are really grateful for your support.”

The Friends group started their fight 20 years ago by successfully defeating a plan to build a housing estate on the Norton nurseries area of the park.

They then had more success ten years ago when they fought to save Chantry cottage, and also defeated a plan to move St Luke’s Hospice onto the park shortly afterwards.

However, when they challenged another plan to sell off Cobnor cottage in 2016, the group wanted to stop further attempts by Sheffield Council to sell off bits of the park once and for all.

This challenge ultimately led to last year's unsuccessful High Court battle – and a huge bill for costs incurred by their opponents.

“We have spent the last 20 years trying to stop them selling bits of it off,” said Caroline.

“It was issued as a gift to the people of Sheffield not given to the council - and it was gifted to them in perpetuity.

“But it has been battle after battle after battle. It is very difficult for a little group like ours to take on the whole of the establishment.”

Over the course of the last 20 years, the group has taken ownership of two sections of the park, a wildlife area and the first phase of the park’s arboretum.

They are now hoping to take control of the second section of the arboretum, and hope to work with the council to make that a reality now they have settled the legal costs of the court case.

And they also want to continue work started on the historical and archaeological importance of the site carried out thanks to a £10,000 grant from the National Lottery.

The park was gifted to the people of Sheffield by businessman and philanthropist J.G. Graves in three sections, between 1925 and 1936.

The status of the land, however, has been the subject of much wrangling with the council, the Charity Commission and the Friends at loggerheads over who actually owns it.

Nevertheless, Caroline hopes that now the costs with Sheffield Council have been settled, the Friends can now focus on securing the park’s long term future.

“The park is really valued by the people of Sheffield,” she said.

"As well as the money people contributed we got 13,500 signatures from members of the public which shows the strength of feeling in the area.

“We now want to get on with the next section of the arboretum as soon as possible so we can't lose any more of it.

“Until that bit is covered in trees I will always be worried.”

To find out more about the Friends of Graves Park, visit www.gravespark.org/contact.html.

Councillor Mary Lea, cabinet member for culture, parks and leisure at Sheffield Council, said: “We surveyed a large number of park users before coming to any decision about the sale of Cobnar Cottage, and 80 percent of them supported the idea of selling and investing the proceeds into their park.

“It’s regrettable that we had to defend this decision in the High Court, but the High Court judge found that the Council had acted fully in accordance with its legal duties and responsibilities.

“Every penny from the proceeds of the sale of Cobnar Cottage has already been invested in to improving Graves Park and has enabled us to upgrade the field shelters at our Animal Farm, improve play facilities, upgrade the toilets and contributed to the refurbishment of the tennis courts.

“As trustees of Graves Park we always act in the best interests of the park and its visitors, working hard to maintain high standards and meet the needs of local people.

“We have responded to the Friends of Graves Park with an agreement to meet and discuss the future of the park and how the council and Friends might work together to achieve the charitable objectives of the park.”