Pinders Heath Residents Association

following a meeting with Fin Tait at Wakefield One, Burton St, I received the following email.

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“Good Afternoon Chris,

Following on from this morning I have spoken with Jane Hunt and I am unable to disclose the figure that has been negotiated for the sale of land as it is commercially confidential.

As discussed, the POS consultation period is the opportunity for any members of the public to raise their concerns or objections to any proposals. Therefore should you wish to raise an objection please can you send something in writing to either myself on the below email or to Jane Hunt at [email protected] , or alternatively at Wakefield One Reception. The deadline to receive objections for this particular case is the 14th September.

Kind Regards,

Fin

I replied

“Dear Fin,

Thank you for prompt follow up on this mornings meeting. As I can sure you will have guessed this was not the answer I was hoping for. One of the main reasons for any possible objections our membership might have to the sale of communal land on the estate would be the price of that land ie sold too cheaply, and hopes that this would be prohibitive enough to discourage other home owners from simply acquiring land to suit their own purposes. This secrecy will only lead to the residents being more insensed than is nessessary with accusations lack of transparency at local government level and that it is some sort of “fixed” deal and thus cause more of an outcry than would otherwise be the case. I will now be including our ward councillors in on this discussion in order to seek clarification on this matter. After all the commercial sensitivity of this financial settlement is hardly on the of scale of a new shopping centre is it. It is most important that our members feel that justice is served and that such activity as breaking of planning regulations and stealing communal land can not be sanctioned let alone rewarded. Surely the money raised by this sale will appear in the public audit of the councils accounts so why pretend it is a closely guarded secret now. Also, your email to me seems to imply that the land has been sold to the owner of 9 Barleycorn Close. Like the parcel of land adjacent to Clarke Hall Farm, also recently sold with no notification to the public, we had no consultation on the matter. Perhaps the residents association would have welcomed the chance to buy the land ourselves, given the opportunity. I look forward hearing your response.

Chris Harrison, Pinders Heath Residents Association”