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Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Shauna (21st Nov 2015 - 16:53:35) I have over the last few months sought clarification from the above Trustees to clarify their press release which stated their decision to refuse the Willows School a lease to continue operating a nursery in the Beacon Building was \" on the advice of the Charity Commission\". The Trustees response to my enquiries (published on this forum) we are not obliged to give information requested under the Freedom Of Information Act. I contacted the Charity Commission directly for clarification... it took a while, but today I have received a letter from them, signed from Tony Robinson and giving me a reference number: TR/301766/419362 if anyone wants to follow this up.. read on and please do give your support for answers. I quote from this letter: \"the charity contacted the Commission to establish whether the Trustees had the power to grant a lease of the building to a Nursery. I advised the Trustees THAT THEY COULD DO SO, assuming that the building occupied a very small part of the overall recreation ground... This seems to be a very big issue of trust that we deserve answers to.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Beth (21st Nov 2015 - 21:29:54) Absolutely disgusting. I think most of us knew they were being sneaky and underhand. Now it's been proven. Surely these people can't be allowed to be councillors when they are flat out lying to the people. Well the building is still there. DO THE RIGHT THING. Give it back to the Willows.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Natalie (21st Nov 2015 - 21:48:10) I actually believed [name removed] when she read that statement, about how the charities commission wouldn't allow the building to be used as a nursery, as it didn't come under recreational usage. Don't get me wrong. I thought the way they had gone about getting the building back, was completely out of order but I am utterly shocked that she sat there and lied to all those people at the meeting. Shauna you need to let the Herald and BBC south today know about this update. They were extremely interested initially and I'm sure they would appreciate knowing about this. At the end of the day the building is still there. They should give it back to the Willows. Then all the councillors involved in lying to the community should stand down immediately.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Shauna (21st Nov 2015 - 22:54:10) I have advised the Herald and our MP Damien Hinds of this letter from the Charities Commission. [name temoved] and other Trustees/Councillors use this forum and have the opportunity to respond to this. I look forward to their comments

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Lucy Davis (21st Nov 2015 - 23:07:09) I know the Willows is an emotive subject, but I really, really think that before jumping on the bandwagon of "the parish councillors are all liars" you should make sure you are in possession of all of the facts. Parish councillors are volunteers, they give their time freely (a lot of it) for the good of the village; please before this turns into another Liphook.co.uk trolling thread be sure you are in possession of all of the facts before posting an ill- informed rant

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Natalie (22nd Nov 2015 - 07:57:11) I'm a little confused Lucy. Doesn't Shauna first post show there's now proof of a letter, that conflicts with the information they provided at the Willows meeting. Which was their whole basis for evicting the Willows

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Katherine (22nd Nov 2015 - 17:41:20) I agree Lucy - before people witch hunt, name call and make personal attacks on people who give their free time to the community.. consider that this Parish Councellor was acting in good faith with the information provided to her. This is not the way to go about resolving this issue, let's not forget our decency and humanity. And while I have the chance can I just say how very sad that individual must be who finds the need to request anonymity whilst posting a slanderous message against someone naming names and not giving them a chance to defend themselves. Remember this is a community website and these people are your neighbours.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Beth (23rd Nov 2015 - 11:00:34) This is talkback, the trustees are able to state their side of events, if they wish to. It's an open forum and people are entitled to their opinion but surely you have to agree, it doesn't look good for the parish councillors now there's proof that the Willows could have had a lease and stayed on at the Beacon building. I personally look forward to hearing what the councillors have say about this. Which will hopefully be soon, as they're often seen commenting on other talkback threads so have no doubt already seen this one. Also forgot to say. Well done on getting this information Shauna. Good work.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - D (23rd Nov 2015 - 11:52:58) We keep hearing how hard working our PC members are and that they do so for free. They knew the rules before they stood for election. If they don't like the heat then get out of the fire!

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Dawn Hoskins (23rd Nov 2015 - 13:55:15) Even if the Councillor hadn’t been given duff information to read out – the main problem still exists. The survey stated that the only way to make the wooden shed safe from all the defects was to start again from scratch & rebuild. A small grant from EHDC does not cover the cost of demolishing and rebuilding. Taxpayers have already paid out for 70 years to keep the shed standing and it is not right that taxpayers pay to have a shed rebuilt in order for a private business to make a profit. The building was not in a safe condition, and to my knowledge none of the children were insured to be there. (I have heard this disputed but no one has shown me the evidence that the Willows management gave the structural report to their insurers – so I continue to believe that this is the case). Even if this duff information hadn’t been read out there would still be no-one prepared to pay the cost of constructing a new building. Unless someone is suggesting that the children go back into the damp & rotten shed (I’d like to meet the parent that thought that was in the best interests of their child) there is no point in crying out for the Willows to be given permission to use it. Lobby your MP about the lack of nursery provision in our county, or EHDC, but until pre-school childcare provision comes under state control it remains up to private businesses to run these enterprises. It is not the fault of any councillor that the shed got old and started to decay. Although the refusal to give out information when requested is completely crap - and giving a councillor duff information to read out [[[IF THAT HAS HAPPENED]]]] is truly awful. I await the actual facts regarding this rather than the rumour mill. Salacious gossip is so much more entertaining but also very low on actual truth!

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - shauna (23rd Nov 2015 - 16:12:59) Would the editor like me to email the letter from the Charity Commission for publishing on this forum to avoid any more confusion between fact and rumours/slander/libel etc ? If so, please send me your email address. thanks, Shauna (never have been anonymous... not sure where that has come from!) Yes please - editor@liphook.uk

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Deb (23rd Nov 2015 - 20:24:17) Hi there dawn maybe I'm one of the parents or the parent your talking about Yes I did want the willows to stay open and yes I did want the old building being there was no where for the children to go Ps I would of been able me and my husband to help with costs of repair to the nursery or helping towards demolishment meaning build a new one And I'm sure others would of done too. And if we had a choice I be quite willing to give our my council tax money to find it believe it or not !!!!!!! How dare how dare the parish councillors let the building get I to that state in first place if it was in a state Funny how the truth has come out now isn't it I say go ahead with the paper and TV The TV was very interested that day so was the early years people for education at the council :))) A lot of people from the village were livid Do you think there be another nursery or other nurserys open in liphook later on in life in ten years time to cater for children of the future I wouldn't like to see liphook children having to go to nursery out the area if it's not the parents choice Glad to know the truths come out and the meeting I attended that night with the councillors disgusting behaviour Horrified !!!!!! . Anyway I have had my say And the willows doing just fine :)))) and my little one loves it

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Shauna (24th Nov 2015 - 11:04:23)

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Dawn Hoskins (24th Nov 2015 - 11:21:47) Ah . . . . . . . . . So what was ACTUALLY the case was that despite asking for advice, the Council didn't receive it. In the absence of advice they had to read the law as it stands without allowing for rebuttal (which prohibits the lease). Reading out the a statement of current law IS NOT disgusting or corrupt or any of those things. It is simply reading the law in a strict liability sense. That the Charities Commission would allow a discretion to be read into the law is not evident on the face of the statute so there is no way that the PC could have known it. Regardless of this - it still leaves a decrepit shed that is not fit for anything but a home for the woodworm, damp-rot and bats. Also - someone earlier mentioned a point "how dare the council let the building get like this?' Well...AGE happens to everything and everyone. The wood used to build this shed after the war would never have lasted this long if it hadn't been for the continual care and maintenance of the building. It has stood for 70 years! That's about 50 years longer than expected. The Parish Council may be many things but they do not have the power to turn back time or stop the aging process.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Val K (24th Nov 2015 - 13:21:05) Dawn To me it is abundantly clear that the parish council made no real effort to find out the law in this instance. The Charity Commission were late in responding - OK. If the Parish Council were really keen to find out what was what they would have either send a chaser letter saying the matter was urgent or better still PICK UP THE PHONE.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - shauna (24th Nov 2015 - 15:38:19) I do think that it would be nice for an explanation as to 1) why the Press Release clearly stated that the Trustees made their decision on "advice from the Charity Commission when it wasn't. Interpretation of Charity Law is not advice 2) Why on receipt of the advice that clearly contradicts their interpretation of the Law was no further effort made on refurbishment/replacement with a bespoke portacabin etc. All of which were discussed in PC Meetings. 3) When was the advice sought and when was the reply given? I would hope that it is in every ones interests to have full transparency to clear the air on this issue, but the Trustees are not obliged to answer any of these question under the Freedom of Information Act.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Chris (24th Nov 2015 - 17:02:08) I see from the LMC minutes The Willows nursery only have 9 children enroled. Not exactly a booming business then! I thought by all the replies on this subject half the village went to this playschool!!

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - Natalie Lambert (26th Nov 2015 - 16:49:19) So the truth is out. The councillors did make up rubbish in order to evict the Willows. What do we as a community do next? Surely we cannot let the councillors get away with this and if the councillors involved, aren't willing to put this right or stand down. Then the community must make a stand. This behaviour is not acceptable. Also why aren't any of the councillors giving feedback on this thread? Jane Ives, Trevor Maroney, you two always on talkback, what do you have to say about this?

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - KT (26th Nov 2015 - 17:46:21) I guess you're talking about the article in the local rag Natalie? If so, then I guess you were pleased to read, as I was, that the parish council have agreed to let The Willows stay in the Millennium Hall for the rest of this academic year - great news! And it sounds like The Willows are happy too as the paper says that they are reassured that they can continue to operate for the rest of the year, giving them time to find a new premises. Sounds to me like it's good news all round.

Re: Parish Council/Trustees of the War Memorial Recreation Ground - shauna (26th Nov 2015 - 18:32:10) There is a Parish Council Meeting on Monday at 7.30.

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