WHY IS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE INACAPABLE OF MOVING ON?

As Mr Waud has been busy on the Residents Facebook group trying to justify the claims he made at Thursday night’s meeting, I thought I would provide some basic facts for balance.

As previously reported by the Bugle:

WORKING GROUPS

• A parish council can agree to set up a working group to address specific issues or projects.
• The minutes of the PC meeting on 29 September 2022 records that a working group be set up comprising of: Cllr. Robert Ducker, Cllr. Mike Stathers, Cllr. Katy Wrathall, The Clerk
• The purpose of the group will be to review the current lease and draft a revised document for submission to full Council once complete.
• Working groups cannot make decisions but must report their findings and recommendations to full council. Which they did.
• Working groups arrange their own meetings and can meet anywhere suitable.
• The clerk acting as note taker sent notes to the working group members. There was no need to send the note to other councillors who would have expected a final report.
• Working groups are made up of councillors but members of the public with relevant knowledge can be invited to join the group. Meetings are not open to the public, nor do they have to be publicised.
• They do not need to keep formal minutes, but notes are usually taken and a report produced for full council.

A REASONABLE RENT?
The working group consulted other councils to ask how much rent they charged. According to the notes taken on 16 January 2023 the clerk reported most councils do not charge rent. After some discussion it was agreed to keep the rent at £1 per year.

TERRIBLE RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF HALL
Members of Shiptonthorpe Forward Together and the Village Hall Management Committee have said on several occasions in the past that the hall is for the benefit of the whole community of Shiptonthorpe. From this note in 2022 it sounds like the working group agreed with them.
Extract from working party note dated October 2022
Priority must be given for Shiptonthorpe residents and organisations.
There are currently concerns that our resident Natterbox group are having to meet elsewhere as the hall is being let for a higher income to external organisations.

LEASE REDUCED FROM 40 TO 20 YEARS
The working group suggested that the lease should be offered for 20 years instead of 40 years in line with other charities.
The average duration of a village Hall lease in Yorkshire is 25 to 30 years. Some historic agreements run for longer.
Many Community Asset Transfer policies today have a typical lease length of 20 to 35 years.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE
Mr Waud states that the former working group wanted to appoint 3 members of the Village Hall committee which could have included non-residents and those who do not have the best interests of the village at heart.
I do not know how Mr Waud has formed this opinion because the notes from the working groups states:
Membership should include representatives from other village groups.

COMMENT
The facts above suggest to me that the former council acted responsibly and within standing orders. Decisions were made and recorded appropriately.
If the former council had not sought to discover how other parish councils manage their community assets they could have been accused of lack of due diligence.
How can it be wrong for local groups to be involved in the running of the village hall or to have a priority when booking. If there are big commercial contracts at risk, then surely some negotiation can take place.
In his post on the residents facebook group Mr Waud has linked to documents which he claims provide evidence to support the claims he made on Thurdays night. If anyone reads the documents they will realise they actually undermine his claims and prove he does not undertsand how parish councils operate.
Mr Waud seems to believe that the working group were making decisions behind his back about the future of his village hall. The fact is they were not empowered to make decisions. Only to produce a report for full council to consider.
Mr Waud seems to be incapable of moving forward and wants to refight battles that took place 2 years ago. He continues to talk about his wonderful village yet keeps maligning the reputation of his fellow residents and generally stirring the pot. As several residents have already said why can’t he just move on? Otherwise I’ll just keep writing about it.
Readers should be aware that Mr Waud is so afraid of debate or informed challenge that he hides his posts from me and several other people who might take issue with him.