Flat Irons Field – has the council spent the money meant ffor the children of Chadwell?

LAST July the council listed a parcel of land opposite Cole Avenue as an asset for sale and, despite local councillor Sara Muldowney’s objections, the Conservative Cabinet voted unanimously to dispose of it immediately.

With the help of local residents, Cllr Sara Muldowney was able to identify the land in question as Flat Irons Field, land held in trust by the council after being bequeathed by Miss Elsie Florence Grover, for the benefit of the children of Chadwell.

Without the publicity of the issue by Cllr Muldowney, this information may never have come to light, as the sale was buried in a 400 page Cabinet agenda which was in the public domain for 1 week before the decision was made to sell.

Cllr Muldowney immediately shared the information about Flat Irons Field with the council and raised a petition against the sale of the land.

She was successful in halting the sale of the field, but ten months on she is still waiting for answers.
Cllr Muldowney said: “It is unacceptable that I am still waiting for answers ten months later.”

“Freedom of Information requests, which were only answered recently following a complaint to the Information Commissioner, show that the council has been receiving over a £1,000 a year for the rental and wayleave of this land.”

“This should have been paid into the Charitable Trust set up for this purpose.”
“Where has this money gone?”

“The council claim they are holding the money in reserves. That’s not good enough. It should be paid into the Trust. I have asked the Charities Commission to investigate this matter and am awaiting their reply.”

“Given the precarious nature of council finances at the moment, I fear this money has been spent, or will be spent by the Conservative run council as they struggle to deliver a balanced budget this year.”