ACTION REQUIRED: LAST CHANCE TO INFLUENCE THE COUNCIL OVER PENSFORD FIELD
Dear Friends,
I am writing to you to ask you to write to the Council by 22 May to object to their current plan to change the status of Pensford Field so that it is no longer open space under the law which must be made available for public enjoyment. There is a suggested form of objection below in red for you to send by email or post. This is your last chance to influence the Council so please act now.
CONTEXT
The Council has finally shown its hand and has published a notice in the Richmond and Twickenham Times on 24 April 2025 reporting its intention to dispose of Pensford Field under a 10 year lease to Dose of Nature: this means that the public may no longer have access to the Field. The advert invites objections which must be submitted no later than 22 May 2025 by post or email (addresses are in the notice). These will be considered at the Council’s Finance, Policy and Resources Committee on 24 June 2025.
If you read the notice you could be forgiven for thinking that the Council was creating an open space as it says it will be used as a nature reserve to be enjoyed by the public and those with mental health needs. Under the law, Councils must maintain open spaces for the enjoyment by the public but this statutory obligation, which is currently in place, will be lost altogether and replaced by contractual obligations in the new lease (a summary of the proposed lease has just been published by the Council). This draft contains no requirement for Dose of Nature to provide access to the public on a day to day basis (unlike our current lease). Even if it did, the terms could change at any time, may not be enforced by this Council (or any successors following elections in May 26) and the public will have no direct rights to hold the Council to deliver its promises.
We do not yet know how this loss of status as an open space affects planning decisions and whether the field will maintain its status as being equivalent to Green Belt in the Local Plan which the Council is about to adopt. We will ask the Council to explain the impact.
A further problem the Council faces is how can it genuinely consider objections when it has so clearly made up its mind in public and took pre-emptive action to terminate our lease last September? The Council is supposed to maintain an open mind when considering objections. If you have any doubts about the extent to which the Council has already made its mind, please watch Part 3 of the Battle for Pensford Field by independent film maker Martin Baker. Until a month ago, we were repeatedly told by the Council the decision had already been made.. Furthermore, the fierce protection of information by the Council about the decision-making process following Freedom of Information requests leads to concerns about whether the decision to grant a lease to Dose of Nature was made far earlier and that this new process is simply a pantomime to appear compliant with the law.
ACTION REQUIRED
I am writing to ask you to submit your objections by Thursday 22 May by email to pensfordfield@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or by post to the address in the notice . Please also copy us in at info@pensfordfield.co.uk so we know what the Council has received. Here are some suggested points to raise but please make your own points or omit ones where you are unsure or don’t agree.
Dear Sir/Madam,
[Introduce yourself and connection to the field]
I am objecting to the proposal to dispose of Pensford Field so that it no longer constitutes open space that must be maintained by the Council as an open space for public enjoyment for the following reasons:
once this disposal is made under a lease for 10 years, there will be no guarantee that the new lease will not be changed by this administration or any new administration after elections in May 2026 or beyond;
the summary of the new lease provided by the Council contains no requirement on Dose of Nature (DoN) to allow access to the public on a day to day basis and limited provisions for the protection of wildlife;
although DoN is deserving of suitable premises to conduct its charitable work, Pensford Field is not such a suitable site - DoN may not secure planning permission for the structure(s) it considers essential to build in the field because it should be treated as Green Belt under the Council’s own rules;
the Council has admitted it has not made exhaustive enquiries to find an alternative site for DoN;
the Council has already made up its mind - this has been made clear by the Leader at various Council meetings from October 2024 to March 2025- objections are supposed to be considered with an open mind.
This process has been tainted by continuous mishandling by the Council. I ask that the Council withdraws its notice of termination of the existing lease to the Pensford Field Environmental Trust Ltd and conducts a proper consultation exercise with residents of the Borough about the future of Pensford Field and makes exhaustive efforts to find a suitable home for Dose of Nature before taking a decision. It should seek a solution that keeps Pensford Field as an open space protected in law.
Thanks for sparing the time to read this and ideally to submit your objections. I believe this will be our last opportunity to influence the outcome so now is the time to act.
I mentioned previously the film Part 3 of the Battle for Pensford Field by independent film maker Martin Baker. It is well worth watching and we are most grateful to Martin for shining a light on this debacle - he brings to life what could never be achieved by words alone.
Kind Regards,
Sarah
Sarah Atkins
Chair of Pensford Field Environmental Trust
PS In our last email, we summarised a letter dated 11 April written by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Green Party), Chas Warlow. Apologies for getting his name wrong but thanks for asking the Leader such probing questions.
