One of the issues we had been battling to get to the bottom of, via last year's MUG Committee, was details of National Grid's licence agreement with Hackney Council for its sub-station in Millfields. In particular:
1. What is the annual amount National Grid pay Hackney Council for the site on Millfields? How long has this arrangement been in place?
2. What are the terms of the agreement between Hackney Council and National Grid about how this money should be spent (for example, is it intended to finance the general upkeep of the Millfields park, specific masterplan projects within Millfields or is it not intended for use on the park?).
3. How have the funds received been spent over the last three financial years?
4. How much funds received from National Grid under this arrangement is still available for spending on Millfields?
The reason this is particularly important is to ensure there is complete transparency that the decision on the alternative route through the park for National Grid is completely independent of any funding National Grid might provide towards a Master Plan project. One can not be allowed to determine the other. It is also very important, given the financial situation, which is going to mean that even funding for basic maintenance will be an issue this year.
Having got nowhere trying to get a definitive response via the Committee, Millfields Blog resorted to an FOI request which is due for reply within the next few days. Coincidently, Cllr Rathbone, the outgoing Chair, has finally now responded to us with the information. But he has told us we can't share it with you:
"The information is not public, it is the property of the committee to which it is submitted to so should not be generally released without the agreement of the Secretary and/or Chair."
So we have the information, but you can't (or not at least until we get our FOI response)!
In the meantime, if you're interested to know the answer please email the new Chair and Secretary to request the information. Their respective email addresses are:-
and
(You might also want to ask them if they intend for this year's Committee meeting minutes in future to be shared with park users - policy to date is MUG members don't get to see them.)
If you'd like to email Cllr Rathbone on why he didn't think the AGM might be a good opportunity to consult park users on how the NG funding available might have been used on the park this year, his email address is:
Post Title
→Warning: property of the Committee
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→https://national-grid-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/warning-property-of-committee.html
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