Old Farm Park, Sidcup

nichorob

http://www.saveoldfarmpark.org

As part of Bexley council's wrong doings, a big part of their £50m deficit is expected to be recouped with the sale of Old Farm Park. A much loved and used green space which Bexley Council are quite happily going to sell to a housing company or supermarket.

We are reaching the later stages of the sale and everything has been pointing to that outcome without any major defence apart from the fantastic job local residents have been doing for a while now in terms of a protest as you can see from the site. I don't know the people behind it personally but they deserve a medal.

Anyway, in a last ditch twist, the campaign has managed to get the park registered as an asset of community value, similar I think to what the Charlton Trust did with The Valley? Can anyone in the know explain quite what the ACV means and what weight it holds in the above? Thank you.

Anna_Kissed

The ability to seek the designation of 'Asset of Value to the Community' (ACV) was brought in under the Localism Act (of 2011), whereby community organisations (e.g. CAS Trust) became able to nominate an 'asset' - in the Trust's case, The Valley, in your case, a public park - to be considered for listing by the local authority into whose domain the facility lies, for a set period of time - currently five years - after which time there would need to be another application.
The granting of ACV status does not confer ownership rights of the asset in question to the group. It does, however, afford the group a notice period - six months - in the event that the landowner proposes to sell (or dispose of) the asset. This time period allows some time for the nominating group and its supporters to act (e.g. to campaign for funds to purchase the asset). Some pubs have been listed as assets, but in some cases, even though the applicant might have a good case, the local authority in question has declined to list the potential asset.
Politicians, eh? Good luck with your campaign.

See here for further information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_of_community_value
https://gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/5959/1896534.pdf

Anna_Kissed

I might add that this is yet another example of the sign of the times, where a local authority, in seeking to 'dispose' of a public asset, sees fit to list that public asset as, err, an asset of value to the community.
There are lots of examples of 'cash-strapped' (ha, ha) councils ridding themselves of such pests as parks, community centres and libraries, and offering them, for sale, to the very communities who, having paid for them for year after year via council tax, 'own' them, in common, already. Cheers for that, Mr Osborne.

nichorob

Anna, thanks so much, much clearer now.

Old Farm Park is just one of dozens of green spaces up for sale right now by just Bexley council alone.

AFKABartram

You local @nichorob ?

Think the residents group have been putting up a good fight over the last year. Never seen it as a much used space, but still don't want it sold

nichorob

Yes I live on old farm avenue AFKA, if I go out my back gate the i'm in the park! I think it's deceptive how well used it is, during daylight hours there is always 10+ people using it.

Anna_Kissed

Yes, and one tries not to despair.
Oh gosh, what's this? Another foreign war. Cheque books out.
As Mr Weller sang all those years ago:
'You choose your leaders and place your trust
As their lies wash you down and their promises rust.
You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns
And the public wants what the public gets,
But I don't get what this society wants;
...I'm going underground'.

pickwick

It is a ridiculous situation, central government has removed funding, rather than deal with that. i.e. start to cut services, reduce, costs (Senior management and Councillors) etc, Bexley's idea we will sell our green spaces, (but not the one behind the council leaders house) . They can only sell them once and in five years time there we be even less funding potentially.

nichorob

pickwick said:

Bexley's idea we will sell our green spaces, (but not the one behind the council leaders house) .

This is the real sickener in it all.

Clem_Snide

Ultimately local Councils have been hung out to dry by Osborne. Some have faced it head on (Greenwich) and tried to deal with a 70million plus reduction in funding over the next 4 years others haven't been as good (Bexley).

Lets not lose sight of who the real enemy is here. The blue nazis that are intent on destroying public service.

thickandthin63

i once managed a Farm Shop in Sidcup,which was habitually visited by bexley council officials,They wanted me to grade my new laid, eggs(we had about 12 a Day),apply for planning permission for my signage, ,take cheese away for bacteria testing(it was prepacked and in date,]and many other irritating things.I am sure other councils are full of the same useless hordes of over paid,and underworked officials,to say nothing of the ridiculous salaries the top officials pay themselves.Get rid of this desd wood,and keep the parks for the kids.