It was uttered in Hemingbrough, again. At the April Council Parishioners’ Forum, two
residents, one of them the exceedingly knowledgeable Parish Councillor from
Cliffe, David McSherry, talked about “Allotments” for parish residents.
“Out of our remit”
whined Chairman Jan Strelczenie, in response. The Council’s Proper Officer did not correct him. So, here goes:-
THE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALLOTMENTS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PARISH LIES WITH THE
PARISH COUNCIL.
Both Strelczenie and the Clerk sat through the prolonged,
lacklustre and unsuccessful efforts of the previous Vice-chairman, Ken McCann
to find allotments for Hemingbrough residents. They know Allotments are NOT out of the remit
of the Parish Council.
Strelczenie moved on to the next topic with a mighty sigh
and a muttered comment “Unless it’s pushed”.
If five or more residents want Allotments, I suggest they
push Strelczenie and the Vegetables to do something about them.
Could the local field owned by the Hemingbrough United Charities,
of which McCann is the Secretary, be converted into Allotments to produce a
better yield for the lawful beneficiaries? There seems to have been only one beneficiary
of that charity since former Councillors McCann and Senior took over the reins
of the Charity more than four years ago - the person renting it.
‘Hemingbrough United Charities’ was formed in 1916 with the
approval of the Charity Commission.
Three local Farmers, A. Kelsey, F. Armitage and G. C. Terry, acting as
Trustees of the individual charities that each had an income of less than £50
applied to have them amalgamated. They
were ‘William Widhouse 14th March 1624’, ‘Sharrow 1824’ and ‘Unknown Donors 1824’.
The intended recipients of the Charity funds do not seem to
have received very much at all. The
Parish Council agreed to support the charity as soon as it was run in
accordance with its constitution and charity law.
When was the last time the Charity Chairman or Secretary asked the Parish Council for money? How much longer will those two individuals take to notify
the Council of a vacancy so the Parish Council can recruit a third Trustee as it is empowered to do? They didn't tell the Council in April. The problem with that may be the new Trustee could be from a different village Gang. (See Post below)
Maybe I should write more about that Charity’s constitution,
the lawful duties of the Trustees, terms of office and the number of formal minuted meetings all Trustees must attend every year.
Messrs. Sharrow and Widhouse must be turning in their graves at the neglect.
