Vital decision next week in long-running row over Sheffield Graves Park Norton Nurseries
A key decision will be made next week over a long-running debate about the future use of disused nurseries at Graves Park in Sheffield.
Sheffield councillors will decide next Monday (September 8) about a range of options for Norton Nurseries. They are currently being used as a parks department depot to store vehicles, equipment and rubbish collected from parks before disposal.
The Friends of Graves Park, who have raised money to add part of the site to an arboretum they have created, have successfully complained to the Charity Commission about the nurseries being used as a depot.
This is because the park is owned by a charitable trust, so any use of the land must benefit the charity, not the council as a whole. The Charity Commission has repeatedly warned the council that it is in breach of the Charities Act 2011.
Currently the nurseries are being used as a depot under a short-term licence until November 30 to give time for a solution to be found.
Outsourcing
The charity trustee sub-committee, which acts on behalf of the council as sole trustee for various charitable trusts, will next week look at four options for the future use of the nurseries. A report to the committee says that only the first three options are recommended.
The recommended options are:
- The charity agrees to the council’s use of Norton Nurseries for the maintenance of Graves Park and other city green spaces, under a formal five-year licence agreement with “appropriate market-based charges”. This would give the charity an annual income of £60,000.
- The footprint of the depot would be reduced, whilst allowing the parks and countryside department to continue to use the site as a base to service green spaces, including Graves Park, again under a five-year licence agreement with charges.
- Withdraw all council operations from Norton Nurseries, with maintenance services being provided to the Graves Park charity from an alternative operational base.
Option four would involve withdrawing all council operations from the nurseries, with the charity either delivering its own maintenance services or outsourcing them from another provider through a contract.
Options one and two would require agreement from the Charity Commission. Moving the depot elsewhere would involve extra costs to the council.