FROBAW Member Newsletter 3 December 2024
Two months have now passed since the judgment was handed down at Bristol High Court and your Committee have had time to digest the outcome and consider where we now stand. It still seems incredible that the justice of our claim to a share of ownership in Becky Addy Wood was not recognised and we have to consider whether to seek leave to appeal at the consequential hearing which has now been fixed for 15th January 2025.
On the positive side the judge stated that the original Memorandum of Understanding with BoA Town Council dated 27th April 2020 was a valid Agreement with FROBAW to set up a robust arrangement for the future management of the wood and we have started negotiations with the Town Council to enter into a suitable Agreement to put that into effect.
The question of who pays the costs of the action is to be decided at the hearing on 15th January and the Councils claim that they have spent over £460,000 in fighting this action will be vigorously opposed. The costs budgets agreed by the Court prior to the action were nothing like this figure.
There are clearly still battles to take place and as a Committee we are united in how should take the matter forward. Sadly, the battle with the Council and the Court proceedings have taken their toll on the health of our Chair, Lisa Otter Barry, and she has decided to step back from her role as Chair whilst remaining for the time being on the Committee. We as a Committee are extremely grateful to Lisa for her wholehearted commitment to FROBAW over the past four and a half years and her knowledge of every aspect of the case has been invaluable. Hopefully taking a break now will help Lisa’s recovery and we wish her well.
At a Committee meeting on 7th November, the decision was made to co-opt Nigel Tarrant onto the Committee and to appoint him as Chair. Nigel has not been on the Committee itself but has led the Litigation subcommittee for the past year and is fully committed to the task ahead of us and getting the best outcome for FROBAW. We have vacancies for Committee members to help us shape the future management of the wood alongside the Council. We particularly need people to work with our group on the proposed Becky Addy Wood Liaison Group. If you are interested in helping us, please email using the address below.