The Parish Council is Seeking Your Views
In December 2016 the parish council negotiated an agreement with Herefordshire Council to “purchase” the area of land adjacent to the school, locally known as Moors Meadow or Greenspace at a cost of £1.00 (plus legal / admin costs). The estimated costs associated with the purchase were included within the next budget and Precept developed by the parish council.
The Neighbourhood Development Plan subsequently confirmed emphatically that local residents were in favour of retaining this area for recreation and leisure purposes. The parish council has since been committed to protecting this open area in perpetuity by purchasing it via the Community Asset Transfer procedure.
Unfortunately, due to a number of staff changes within Herefordshire Council, the purchase was not finalised, and the parish council has recently restarted the process. An Expression of Interest was completed and has been considered by the Estates Department and the Council Member, and has been approved in principle, subject to the full process being successfully completed. Part of this process is showing clear local support for the proposal.
To this end, this consultation is seeking your views, so that the parish council can show the current level of local support for the proposal.
Please answer the following questions (or access them online) and provide your response to the Clerk (clerk@goodrichandwelshbicknor-pc.gov.uk) by Friday 30th June 2023.
- Do you want to retain Moors Meadow as an open recreation area?
- Do you support the parish council in their efforts to purchase the land at a cost of £1.00 plus legal and admin costs?
- Are you content that having committed to this purchase, the parish council will be responsible for all associated maintenance costs, in perpetuity?
- Would you be happy to act in a volunteer capacity either now or at some time in the future, to assist with the ongoing maintenance of this area in order to help keep costs down and encourage community involvement?
You will be receiving this consultation leaflet through your door at the end of May, but you can respond using the contact form on this website Contact straight away, simply copy and paste the questions into the form, along with your answers and remember to include your name and address.
Please do take the time to complete the consultation questionnaire, as it is an extremely important element of the asset transfer procedure, to show that there is local support for the Parish Council’s proposal to take over this area of land.
If you don’t support it, Herefordshire Council will not transfer the asset.