Row intensifies over future of old nurseries at Graves Park in Sheffield

The Friends of Graves Park have just made a second complaint in eight months to the Charity Commission about the use of Norton Nurseries, which they want to see returned to parkland. Sheffield City Council is currently using them as an operational base for its parks and countryside service.

The issue is also being discussed next Tuesday (January 21) at a meeting of the council’s charity trustee sub-committee. Like many city parks and other assets, Graves Park is owned by a charitable trust with the council as sole trustee and the sub-committee acts on its behalf.

Following a complaint made by the Friends group last May, the Charity Commission told the council it was in breach of both the charity’s rules and the Charities Act 2011 as the arrangements for use of the nurseries had not been regularised.

As a result, the sub-committee agreed in November to use the nurseries as an operational base for a limited period of time, while looking for an alternative.

However, this decision has prompted a further complaint to the Charity Commission by the Friends group. Chair Caroline Dewar wrote to the commission, objecting to the Parks and Countryside department’s request for a 12-month temporary licence to run depot services from Norton Nurseries.

Illegal

This would service more than 35 parks and open spaces, the letter says. The group say that granting such a licence would be condoning an illegal operation.

The letter adds: “This is charitable parkland and should only be used for the benefit of the Graves Park Trust. There is no benefit to the trust for using this site as a depot for other parts of Sheffield.

“Proposing the leasing of the site from the Graves Park Trust, then charging the trust for its maintenance, which is what is proposed in the report, cancels out any supposed benefit to the trust and could be interpreted as sharp practice and of no benefit to the trust.

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“To lease the site as a depot for £60,000 per annum appears incredibly cheap.

“To grant a temporary licence opens the door to that licence being made permanent in the future.”

The letter argues: “The whole of the park, including the Norton Nurseries section, has been identified as being of heritage importance. This suggests that it is totally unsuitable as a depot, which is collecting refuse, including dog excrement, from the southern side of Sheffield.

“The collection of waste and handling of waste on the site is wholly inappropriate and as far as we are aware, should have licence of its own.”

Campaign

The Friends have run a long campaign against council attempts to dispose of the nurseries, including selling then for a housing development in 1998 and leasing them to St Luke’s Hospice in 2008.

They argue that part of the site, which remains largely unused, could be released to them to restore it to parkland. They would pay for the work as they have done previously.

The Friends say in their letter that this issue was “bypassed” by the charity sub-committee in November

The report to next week’s sub-committee says that at present no site has been identified as suitable for a replacement operational base.

The search has involved council-owned sites, land coming up for sale and co-use of sites owned by council partners.

It adds: “Removing the operational resources that are used for management and maintenance of green spaces outside of Graves Park from Norton Nurseries would allow the site to be restored to parkland and allow the park to fulfil its charitable objectives of the provision and maintenance of a park and recreation ground for use by the public with the object of improving their conditions of life.

“Exploring options for alternative operational bases will allow the Trustee to decide on behalf of the charity as to which option is in the best interest of the charity.”

It states that the option to do nothing “was rejected because it would ignore the requests of the Friends of Graves Park to restore the Norton Nurseries to parkland and would prevent the Trustee from fully discharging its duty to act in the best interests of the Graves Park charity”.