Row erupts between Chapel-en-le-Frith Parish Council and local charity

Chapel-en-le-Frith Parish Council’s Nigel Gourlay says the George and Sarah Beresford Foundation Trust should be investigated by the Charity Commission after it emerged a Sparrowpit playing field it owns was being rented to a trustee’s son to graze beef cattle.

Coun Gourlay said in a meeting this week a set of accounts provided by the charity showed “the son of a trustee paying rent to the charity”.

A governance document states the trust has responsibility for maintenance of the playing field and the village hall for the “benefit of...inhabitants”.

However the trust says the land has been let lawfully to local farmers on a “grazing or mowing” licence since 1960.

A trust spokesperson has described Coun Gourlay's comments as “wildly inaccurate” and a “disgraceful attempt to discredit a small charity run by hard working community volunteers”.

The dispute arose following a parish council meeting on Tuesday night during which Mr Gourlay said the land was being used to “generate income from farming and car parking”.

He added: “something has gone terribly wrong for the charity” and asked whether the charity “has court orders in place to allow this”.

The councillor said he had “sought answers” for two years regarding Sparrowpit play park near the field – which the parish council maintains and for which it pays a nominal £1 a year rent to the trust.

Nigel added that although several council members were trustees of the charity “for the last 18 months” it had refused to recognise the council’s oversight.

Councillors passed a motion that the council ask the Charity Commission to investigate whether an order was made by the commission allowing use of the field for farming and car parking by four votes to one.

Since Tuesday’s meeting a trust spokesperson has confirmed "the last licencee was the son of the secretary of the trust and the secretary took no part in the discussion or decision making” – adding that the land had been “let under the terms of the trust to local farmers on a grazing or mowing licence since 1960”.

Addressing questions about the role of two trustees from the parish council the spokesperson said: “Chapel Parish Council has always had two representatives on the trust and the current representatives are still active and in full possession of all information regarding the trust.

"The parish council leases and maintains the playground paying a nominal rent of £1 per anum but has no other financial input or control and has no role whatsoever to ‘oversee’ the running of the charity.

“Unfortunately Chapel Parish Council has now only five largely inexperienced councillors instead of the full complement of 13 councillors.”

The spokesman said the Charity Commission had “already been alerted following previous unprovoked and unfounded attacks on the integrity of the trustees of the charity”.

Chapel Parish Council is currently holding its monthly meetings virtually due to the pandemic, with video coverage being posted to Youtube.

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