Sent on 24/02/2022 to TPLC, copying in Alok Sharma MP; councillors Jenny Rynn, Raj Singh, Dayapal Singh, Graeme Hoskin, Ricky Duveen, Helen Manghnani, Meri O'Connell and local journalists Hannah Roberts and Brad Young.

A reply has been received from TPLC saying our comments and requests will be considered by the Trustees in their next meeting to be held in mid March

A secondary reply (barely worthy of publishing) was received on 22/03/2021 and is printed at the bottom in red

Open Letter to Trustees of Tilehurst Poor’s Land Charity

Re: Proposed sale of land on Kentwood Hill and Armour Hill

With the deadline for submission of bids to purchase the land held in trust by TPLC on Kentwood Hill and Armour Hill fast approaching, we are writing to update you on the first phase of the Keep Kentwood Green campaign and, once again, to urge you to reverse your decision to sell this much-valued local green space.

Before Keep Kentwood Green began its campaign to raise awareness, no attempt had been made by the Trustees to inform residents of the proposed sale of this land or to consult them about the impact that such a sale would have upon their local community, services and well-being. No public meeting was held, no leafleting undertaken and no ‘for sale’ signs erected at the site.

Phase 1 of the Keep Kentwood Green campaign has thus included: the distribution of 2,000 leaflets to local homes and businesses (15 January); the establishment of a Keep Kentwood Green Facebook group (20 January – 408 active members); the circulation of hard-copy petitions (22 January); the creation of a dedicated keepkentwoodgreen.com website (28 January); the launch of an online petition (4 February); regular communications with the local MP, councillors, media and other organisations.

As a result of Keep Kentwood Green’s awareness campaign, 500 local residents have so far signed the online petition, opposing the sale of this land - bit.ly/keepkentwoodgreen - and an additional 407 have signed the hard-copy version. In the space of a month, over 900 local residents have expressed their opposition to TPLC’s plans to sell this land. Given this strength of local feeling, we call upon you to change your mind and to take the land off the market immediately. We urge the Trustees instead to work with the local community to preserve and enhance this valued green space for the benefit of future generations of local Tilehurst residents.

We gather, from replies from TPLC to emails sent by local residents, that the Trustees remain unwilling to hold a public meeting, which is hugely disappointing but ultimately your decision. Such refusal to engage with the local community will, however, inevitably further damage the already tarnished reputation of the charity.

Should you remain determined to press ahead with the sale of this much-valued green space in the face of such strong local opposition, Keep Kentwood Green will move to Phase 2 of our campaign: namely, to fight against any subsequent development, and to protect and enhance this local green space and its rich biodiversity. To this end, we request permission from TPLC for a select group of volunteers to be granted access to the reserved land in order to: clear the rubbish and hazards that have been allowed to accumulate over the past 24 years; to conduct an independent ecology survey of the area before any damage to protected species and habitat can be done by the new owner; and to start working with the various bodies who have already offered to help us fight against the development of this local green space (including Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre; Berkshire Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust; Campaign for the Protection of Rural England; Open Spaces Society; Binfield Badgers; Tilehurst Allotments Society; the local MP and the majority of the local councillors cc’ed here.)  

Yours faithfully,

Keep Kentwood Green

Re

To whom it may concern – ‘Admin’ at ‘Keep Kentwood Green’

At a recent meeting of the Charity’s Trustees, your email of 24 February 2022 was considered. The Charity’s response is as follows.

Regarding your request for “permission from TPLC for a select group of volunteers to be granted access to the reserved land” for various purposes (including clearing the land and conducting an ecology survey), the Charity declines to give its permission, and so access to its reserved land by any person for any purpose is denied.

An environmental impact assessment is, of course, a statutory part of the planning process.

Regarding the other contents of your email, these are noted. The Charity has no comment to make, other than to refer you to the Charity’s website – in particular the FAQs at www.TilehurstPLC.org.uk and the Press Notice at www.TilehurstPLC.org.uk/News