Council accused of creating 'serious hazard' at Graves Park
Graves Park is owned by a charitable trust, of which the council is sole trustee.According to the Charities Act 2011 the use any use of charity-owned land must solely benefit the charity, and not the council.The Friends of Graves Park is preparing to restore the area currently used as a "dumping ground" and turn it into a woodland garden.It has already completed restoration of two areas of the nursery site, creating a meadow wildlife area and the first section of an arboretum.
In her letter, Ms Dewar said: "Waste, including dog dirt, is being collected from at least 35 other parks and open spaces and dumped at the site, to be sorted and collected at a later date."This is a serious health and safety hazard. We have been requesting that this unacceptable and illegal waste collection be stopped and more suitable alternatives be introduced with immediate effect, but our requests are ignored."We now expect this practice to be discontinued, irrespective of decisions about the depot operations."
In her letter, which was sent to councillors and MP Louise Haigh, Ms Dewar also raised concerns that some documents had been withheld from public view at a council meeting in June, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.The council said: "The advice is legal advice in respect of how to best advise the trust. It was commissioned by the Monitoring Officer."It remains legally privileged so that the committee may understand it."A meeting of the council's charity committee on Wednesday will consider granting the depot a licence until the end of November.A long-term plan for the parks department depot is due to be considered in September.
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