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It has been reported that David Fielder attempted to sue Harrogate Borough Council after they imposed the ACV in June 2017.

He claimed £711,000.00, for ‘loss of profits’ because the imposition of the ACV deprived him of ‘permitted development rights’ which would have allowed him to turn the site towards domestic dwellings. He also claimed a sum of £355,000.00 for ‘diminution of value’ for the same reason.

HBC rejected this these claims and a subsequent review upheld that ruling. David Fielder then appealed against the decision. This was heard by a Judge of the First Tier Tribunal, who on the 30th April 2019 supported HBCs case and again refused the claim.

Following subsequent representations, the same Judge refused to review this judgement on 3rd June 2019 but did allow leave for Mr Fielder to apply for yet another appeal, to the 2nd Tier Tribunal.

To date it is not known whether further legal actions have been undertaken. As decisions like this have important implications, not just for the ‘Save the Henry Jenkins’ campaign but for all other community campaigns around the whole country, if further information becomes available, we will publish it here in the “Latest News’ section on our website.

We’ve had some reports of intimidation at our Membership Meeting at the Mechanics Institute on the 26th February. If you experienced this, or saw anything that made you uncomfortable at the time, you should report it. A report will then be submitted to Ripon police to add to the existing file.
Contact Dave at HJCPLtd.com with ‘Intimidation’ in the subject line. Discretion will be maintained.

After it was discussed at our recent Membership Meeting, it has been decided to launch the Associate Membership Scheme without delay. It is hoped that new supporters might be recruited before the Appeal is heard in Harrogate on the 26th March, anticipating that larger numbers will make a greater impact on the Planning Inspector. The fact that we are also ‘opening up’ to those who support the campaign but are unable, for whatever reason, to buy shares, will also count in our favour.

Please note: This will not replace our ‘full’ membership. Associate members invest no money in the project, though they may wish to volunteer their labour or help in other ways, and therefore cannot vote at Management Meetings, although they will receive the regular HJCP updates by post and email.

And we are still pushing hard to recruit more ‘full’ members and to sell more Community Shares to allow us to achieve the target figure of £230,000.00 we set in the Business Plan.

A new leaflet formally launching the scheme is in preparation now , to be distributed next week and this will have an Associate Membership Form attached. If you know anyone who may be interested, please draw their attention to it. A specific online form will also be placed onto the website www.thehenryjenkins.com

And we already have our first two members, who have completed and returned the forms that were shown ‘as illustrations’ at our recent Membership Meeting.
What a start! We look forward to saying ‘hello!’ to many more interested supporters.

We hope you are still watching our thermometer? The mercury is still rising! Today the membership stands at 176 and the share total a blistering £206,250.00! with more promises in the pipeline. We are like marathon runners approaching the stadium – all the peaks and troughs are behind us and we know that the tape – that tantalising £230k – is just a few easy laps away. But we’re exhausted and every yard seems like a mile. But we won’t be beaten! And yard by weary yard – and share by weary share – we will make that finishing line and achieve our target!