Cosgrove, Gates, Walker and Andrew Bowles were also trustees of Bensteds, the long-established Faversham charity chaired by former town councillor, town mayor and prominent local freemason Bro Andrew Osborne. When we asked for missing minutes of their meetings under Freedom of Information rules, Swale Borough Council refused. The case law on harassment is clear. Sometimes they have cases, Royal Holloway, How much more? He asked Hilary Riva and a number of others to get involved. Bensteds not only helped bankroll the project but also provided an account for money the group aimed to obtain from private donors and organisations including the War Memorial Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund and a public appeal. . The design looked not unlike the, In the library alone, more than 80 comments were against the scheme, many fiercely so. When the brown envelopes first appeared, Jackie Westlake, then Town Clerk, contacted the local police inspector, Gavin Wade, who told her that no crime had been committed. designed and delivered many organisation, team and Now there are nine small businesses, employing from 1-10 people each, plus dozens of part-time and casual staff helping out with events. Neither did Cosgroves committee, the NHS, nor the Cottage Hospital. But it was too late. and people we He is a A sudden and miraculous conversion appears to have turned former Conservative Faversham councillor Mike Cosgrove into a born-again environmentalist. contact Hilary ran The Alexander Centre on SBCs behalf for a couple of years, to learn what the issues were and to put together a business plan. voluntary and commercial sector bodies. The anticipated Heritage Lottery Fund grant was declined but Faversham's Bensted's Charity gifted more cash. Best Value: a Excluding the War Memorial, Bensteds has given an average of 21 percent of its annual income to other local applicants between 2013 and 2018. leadership development The project boasted the support of Faversham Town Councilunsurprisingly, since Cosgrove, Simmons and Walker were and are also Faversham town councillors, as were members Trevor Payne and Tom Gates. New trustees were appointed and there was a reaffirmation of the original purpose of the charity the relief of the aged and those in distress and sickness, the provision of social welfare and educational facilities for local inhabitants. Arriving to lay a wreath alongside other veterans organisations, the Royal Air Forces Association discovered they werent invited, a snub reportedly compounded by some regrettable conduct ill-befitting a ceremony of remembrance. of They had something grander and more military in mind, even if it meant tearing up the garden and moving the Grade II-listed cross. After X-ray costs, it was the second largest expenditure of the year. They even threatened to withhold funding for the the long-promised creek bridge if their plan was voted out. This is accounted for as money set aside to future projects. Protection The Alexander Centres Gatefield Hall hosts everything from weddings . Faversham Borough Council originally bought Gatefield House from Lady Alexander in 1943. Peter Binnie, a wedding photographer, was appointed project manager at chairman Cosgroves suggestion. All relatively small sums, which could make a profound difference to the quality of life of those who received the money. At the next meeting he reported a renewed campaign from objectors. Five days after the arrest, on 29 April the story hits the national and international press, beginning with a story in the Daily Mail. in the Voluntary Child It is no secret our local councillors were behind John's arrest. Around 35,000 people a year come through the doors for work or enjoyment. On any one day, you might find up to around 40 people working here. However, the office rentals are popular, so The Alexander Centre is considering renovating the attics to create more offices for startups and charities. Volunteers complained the plans were shrouded in secrecy as Swale referred their queries to Cosgrove, who failed to answer them. others. The Id rather not say, he said. We know 9,000 came from Kent County Council, around 8,500 from Faversham Town Council and 7000 from Swale. That is the big difference between being owned by an independent body and being run by the Government. 2001 (MNW), Wrote Think Fortunately, an eagle-eyed council official rescued it from a skip. entries in Like many small towns after WWI, Faversham chose not to carve the names of the fallen into stone but instead recorded them in books of remembrance. Value And its brought jobs into the town. The objectives of the Bensteds charity were set out in the original trust deed. The Regeneration Plan for Faversham Creek Basin has not really changed since 2013 Read how we saw the Bridge then. As of 2018, 41,102 was set aside for future funding projects. SBC contributed five years of successionally smaller grants to give TACT time to get it restored and established. Mike Cosgrove cabinet member at Swale Borough Council Rochester, England, United Kingdom291 connections Join to connect Swale Borough Council Peter Symonds Winchester, Leicester Univ, Reading. By the end of 2015, Bensteds had also paid out 1,820 in consultancy fees from its war memorial fund. Internal documents (available here) recently obtained from Faversham Town Council, under Data Protection legislation, reveal the council's inner workings and the extraordinary behaviour of the Kent Police. Evaluation of the a change of The Bensteds Trustees accept that such a huge discount would be reasonable if the land that KCC bought was now going to be used to build an old peoples home and provide other forms of social welfare in line with the original objectives of the charity. With a few exceptions, they agreed, no public money would be spent on the project. What's for dinner? And Lady Alexander would certainly have approved of the music. And the Barley Mow gift shop has had to leave Court Street temporarily while repairs are carried out. Westlake then started talking to PC Emma Willson, who spoke to the Kent Police Management Unit. Member of Plans were drawn up with the help of Faversham-based FDA architects, showing a garden laid out in an eye shape. Free from accountability, members were not obliged to answer questions, divulge costs, publish full minutes of their meetings or even reveal their names. There is no provision in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE), which allows police officers to search a house for a charge which does not exist. Initially, the volunteer gardeners attended Cosgroves meetings but soon concluded their concerns were being ignored. statutory and voluntary The letters were to be deplored concurred Cosgrove and his committee, as if questioning their design choices somehow constituted an appalling insult to the fallen. Blackwell to Radio 4s Gardeners Question Time . child protection The new trustees sold part of the land and this left the charity with around 500,000 as a permanent endowment. We asked Cosgrove for figures to back up the claim but none were forthcoming. I don't put any dates in my diary after today. Sir Sidney, a pioneering vascular surgeon, played billiards with the most prominent men in Faversham (he added a billiards room to the side of the house). 1990 - 1995. Praised by Cosgrove for his first-rate excellent press liaison support, Gardners PR efforts resulted in favourable local newspaper coverage. British Follows selection meeting tonight. She was married to Sir Sidney Alexander, Mayor of Faversham from 1910-20. You can get in touch with Nigel Kay, Faversham Councillor or Mike Cosgrove via nige@kayna.plus.com or mike_cos@hotmail.com. environments. Until the War Memorial project came along, the focus was on the future not the present. Coincidentally, a Bro Andrew Spiers is a member of Bro Tom Gates masonic lodge, the Manor of Faversham. The secretive Faversham War Memorial Project Group, led by then-Swale councillor Mike Cosgrove, was comprised chiefly of Swale councillors and officers. But their emails and letters got nowhere. But they had a problem: the community wasnt buying it one bit. Towards the end of 2017, the Friends of Faversham Cottage Hospital gave 5000 to the project. It is far from clear what authority it had to evict the community gardeners. After the Beauty Spot salon in West St was destroyed by fire, it carried on operating in one of the Alexander Centres rooms. So any. People rarely sit in the garden now. He has published The idea of an endowment is that the original sum remains untouched. The night that the police decided to take no further action against John Wellard, Councillor (now Mayor) Trevor Abram emailed Nigel Kay saying: there is also a constant daily diatribe of acrimonious accusations against the actions of the Council in social media, which allowed to continue unchallenged could easily cost any of us our seats on May 7. for children in rural areas to increase awareness Leading interior designer, Sue Timney, advised on colour schemes and materials. Join Facebook to connect with Mike Cosgrove and others you may know. management. And worse. Yes, you did read that correctly. Posted: 13th July, 2018 Category: Architecture, Culture, People, Words Alexandra Campbell Photographs Alexandra Campbell. But over time the garden, once used to grow veg for hospital patients, became neglected and overgrown. of a Chairman Cosgrove and core members David Simmons and Anita Walker were all Swale councillors, while assorted council officers from both Swale and Faversham Town Council were drafted in to assist. Our Education Directory has everything you could possibly need! With its oversized central tombstone, brick wall backdrop and unsightly row of sterile concrete blocks, the finished garden has been likened to North Korea, The Handmaids Tale, the architecture of Albert Speer and, even less flatteringly, a line of gents urinals. So, without any evidence linking him to the posters and envelopes, they decided to have pensioner John Wellard arrested. More worried about Duchy of Cornwall's plan to build 2500 houses on grade 1 and 2 agrucultural land at Faversham." He said that he had lived in Faversham for 42 years, and that he was the St Ann's Ward Councillor. To understand the contribution The Alexander Centre makes to Faversham, let us suppose that Swale Council had sold its unwanted building off for offices insteadwhat would the impact have been? As well as cash, Cosgroves team needed what they termed community buy-in. Negotiation's OK Faversham Politics Bess. The general feeling was that this project would go ahead anyway, said Ros Young. This money is currently sitting in the separate War Memorial account maintained by Bensteds. After reportedly filling the former mortuary with much verbal abuse and shouting they left. For many years Cottage Hospital staff, patients and their visitors have used the garden when weather conditions permit., Simmons continued: The donation was made with the restriction that it must be used to make the new pathway fully disabled access compliant using non slip materials. Rural Health Matters! We can focus expertise on a development of a strategic problems. She then went up the ladder and contacted Detective Chief Inspector Tony Henley, the Swale District Commander. Faversham Eye asked Bensteds Charity for more information about these fees and who received them. The councillors then met informally and decided that the satirical posters were a criminal matter, that John Wellard was responsible and should be prosecuted. A Charity Commission spokesperson said: We expect trustees to ensure that all decisions are made in their charitys best interests and in compliance with their legal duties to manage their charitys resources responsibly.. of social The application went to appeal, the charity won and planning permission was granted in May 1991. On 6th May the Land Registry granted ownership of the garden to Swale Borough Council. the implications for staff recruitment and retention the well as SMEs. articles on management subjects in refereed journals and areas, 2000 NCVCCO/The Countryside Agency (JDW), Researched and Meeting in September, councillors Tom Gates and Mike Cosgrove agreed to write to Bensteds trustees which included Tom Gates and Mike Cosgrove thanking themselves for their own generosity. Movies. Children Act Facebook gives people the power to. This is what we had hoped for but we never take it for granted. It looks like yet another occasion when Faversham and the interests of the local inhabitants - have been short changed. But Swales statement of truth penned by council officer and war memorial group member Graeme Tuff makes only a fleeting mention of the volunteer gardeners who turned up most Sunday mornings for eight years to mow the lawns with their own mowers, refurbish the benches, pick litter and weed flowerbeds. The fact that its modern has proved a bonus, because it can be dressed up for a wedding, then cleared for dancing lessons or a wrestling match. Swale didnt yet own the garden. He undertakes assignments in both the public and voluntary sectors as Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. But town councillors were told that there were 115 comments in total. In all, the War Memorial committee raised 206,000. It was mainly used as council offices, with rooms carved up into cubicles by plasterboard and ceilings lowered to house lighting and cables. The history of the project (as detailed in previous issues of the Faversham Eye) is very different. guide for the Other members included local journalist Mark Gardner of the, Plans were drawn up with the help of Faversham-based FDA architects, showing a garden laid out in an eye shape. Swale Borough Council Faversham's representatives. We must not let this continue.. Several comments slated the project as an absurd waste of taxpayers cash. But the people had spoken. It would be nice to think that Sir Sidney Alexander, who was mayor through the long and painful years of World War I, would be delighted to see Faversham enjoying his home now. Austere, unwelcoming and almost always empty, neighbours call it the Graveyard of Stone Street. services In 2014, the Faversham War Memorial Project Group met in the Mayors Parlour. the internet and social care, negotiation and social What are the odds? The old garden is gone now, buried under tons of stone, concrete and gravel. Institute of In fact he wouldnt answer any questions about his project. Given that at least 80 of the comments were unequivocally against the scheme, its hard to see how this alleged majority is mathematically possible. identification of unit costs, His clients include the National Assembly for Wales, Health Authorities, NHS Trusts, General Practices, the Independent Health Sector, Local Government and private individuals. . potential service By the early 1980s, KCC assumed they owned the site. Yet oddly, Cosgroves committee were told only 60 comments were received in total. Mike Cosgrove is known for Alien Ant Farm: Movies (2001), Alien Ant Farm: Smooth Criminal (2001) and Dystopia Tonight with John Poveromo (2021). Exactly what that refinement entailed remains unclear. Its about as inviting as a mausoleum. Horrified at the new memorials disproportionate dimensions and brutalist appearance, some wrote to the Faversham News calling it an eyesore and a Stalinistic abortion. About 500,000 of this is the permanent endowment and comes from the original land sale. Page after page, the objections piled up: Only seven favourable comments were left, one of which was penned by former town councillor and mayor, Bensteds Charity chairman and prominent local freemason, Bro Andrew Osborne. A hundred years later, Faversham councillors took money from the same hospital to help pay for a new 150,000 eyesore monument few wanted. Disregarding War Memorials Trusts earlier warnings about potential damage, Cosgrove and committee proposed holding 25,000 back for another bid to move the original granite cross, agreeing: It would be useful to build up a reserve for the second phase.. local government In Pursuit of He asked Hilary Riva and a number of others to get involved. There is no charge of collective harassment in English law. It can be spent as the Trustees wish. So any Eye readers who have an idea for an educational project related to Favershams war dead should apply to Bensteds. However, there is no other building which is so large, central and versatile. Cosgrove and Swales legal department had been talking to the NHS with the aim of transferring ownership. political Or the fact that their efforts left Swale nothing to do besides emptying bins. Safeguard Children 1999, Care Family Each year since 2015, the set aside has grown. So said Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas when he officially opened Favershams WW1 memorial on 3 November 1922. Now the hall hosts everything from Hop Festival gigs, jazz evenings, talks, fairs and boxing matches to Public Inquiries and blood donor sessions. The anticipated Heritage Lottery Fund grant was declined but Favershams Bensteds Charity gifted more cash. There are other places to hold small classes and a few other large venues to hire for weddings and concerts. successful By Andy Capon As the government's roadmap for an end to lock down gathers pace The Spire has been speaking with Faversham residents about how it affected them, and how they are looking forward to 'normality' as rules are eased. Ouch. mike cosgroveRetweeted David Atherton @DaveAtherton20 9h Chiragh Chiragh, 39, has been found guilty of manslaughter of Mohamed Muhyidin when his submachine gun accidentally went off. - 1993. Following Child Protection: voluntary sector, including eight years as Assistant Director, Family Service Units. 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