Graves Park campaigners say Sheffield Council treated them the same way as tree protesters

The Friends of Graves Park have been part of a campaign to save the Rose Garden Cafe from demolition but have also been trying to get Norton Nursery at the park returned to parkland for many years. They say the former nursery site is covered by the charity covenant that gifted the park to the city, which means the land shouldn’t have other uses.

They believe that the nursery site is now used as a council depot, which they argue is contrary to the park covenant. The group also fought an unsuccessful court challenge to stop the sale of Cobnar Cottage at the park.

Caroline Dewar, chair of the group, said: “Regarding the trusteeship of Graves Park by Sheffield City Council, the Friends of Graves Park are very concerned by the recent publication of the street tree inquiry by Sir Mark Lowcock.

“We have looked at his comments and conclusions, which identify activities and approaches by Sheffield City Council that are similar or identical in some cases to the problems that the Friends of Graves Park have had over the years.

“Some of the same councillors and council officers involved in the street tree debacle were and still are the same as those who have been involved in the many attempts to act contrary to the covenants which are supposed to protect Graves Park. The same councillors are still in charge.

‘Frighteningly similar’

“Coun Terry Fox and Coun Bryan Lodge were trustees at the time of the sale of Cobnar Cottage in 2016 and are still trustees now. Terry Fox is now the council leader and is also on the council’s charity sub-committee. Bryan Lodge is the chair of the charity sub-committee.

“In addition, at least some of the council officers are treating the Friends of Graves Park in the same way as the Sheffield Tree Action Group were treated regarding the trees.

“The approaches and behaviour are frighteningly similar. The Friends of Graves Park are having to make Freedom of Information requests to try and establish what is going on at the Norton Nurseries site, as well as trying to work out what is going on with regard to the Graves Park Trust’s accounts.”

Caroline added: “In addition, the recent closure of the Rose Garden Café, an historic building built in 1927 and opened by J G Graves himself, has from the closure followed a similar pattern.

“Despite widespread public concern and support for its retention and renovation, the council from the outset were promoting its demolition and replacement with a “modular café facility” whatever that is.

“Possible demolition is still on the table and the council has been pushing to put together a public consultation for the whole of Sheffield, despite the public petition of over 11,000 signatures, which was initiated not by the Friends, but by a member of the public.

Demolition options

“The Friends of Graves Park has commissioned an independent survey, which recommends monitoring of the front elevation, but which does not recommend demolition and which states that although it does need reroofing, the trusses are basically sound. The council is still looking into five different options, three of which include demolition.

“The Friends have made it clear that we will apply for external grants and funding to restore the building but not for any options that include demolishing this much-loved building. We are still in consultation with the council about this.”

Caroline said: “In the Friends’ efforts over the past few years to get the rest of the Norton Nursery site restored to parkland, we have been met with silence, or statements which we believe are intended to mislead the public, for example their suggestion that Graves Park is such a large park that the Friends could have an arboretum in a much more suitable part of the park, totally deliberately missing the point that the Friends are determined to get the rest of the Norton Nursery part of Graves Park restored back to parkland, as agreed 25 years ago.”

She said that the group have made Freedom of Information requests to try to find out what is happening at the nursery site. One question asked whether the nurseries was still charitable parkland and if it had been turned over to use as a depot.

The council said it was not used as a depot and said it had not reneged on a decision to restore the site to parkland. Responses to later questions said that rubbish collected from city parks is stored there before being transferred to a waste facility at Darnall and council vans and tractors are stored there.

‘Crystal clear’

Caroline said: “As you can see, it is crystal clear that they are using the site as a depot and not just for Graves Park but for sites all over the city, with rubbish being delivered and collected there on a daily basis, before being taken in large vehicles to Darnall. These Freedom of Information responses contradict the responses received by the Friends from senior council officers.”

She added: “The Friends of Graves Park want the people of Sheffield to know that this is going on and has been for a very long time. Sadly, although representatives of Sheffield City Council have stated that since the street tree debacle they are making efforts to improve and that they operate very differently, the Friends of Graves Park have seen little evidence of this and are still spending significant amounts of our free time trying desperately to safeguard Graves Park from its own trustees.”

Ajman Ali, executive director of operational services from Sheffield City Council, said: “We are working towards a long-term solution for the future of the Rose Garden Café in Graves Park, we know it is a much-loved place and many people care about the outcome of the decisions we need to make.

“Our process is as transparent as it can be, minutes from public meetings are made available at the earliest opportunities and we are committed to not repeating past mistakes.

“We have been working closely with the Friends of Graves Park throughout this process and will continue to do so in arriving at the final decision."

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