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Dunsfold is a small village in Surrey, England, lying five miles south
of Godalming close to the Sussex border, with a population of just over 1,000.
The village has a thirteenth century church, a shop (with
post office) and a public house.
Notes on commenting to the Charity Commission about the draft Scheme
The meeting called by the Parish Council in the Winn Hall on Tuesday 30th June about the draft scheme was attended by over 80 parishioners.
The current trusts require the buildings to be used for education which began here in 1839. It was stopped in 2004 when
the Diocese gained approval against local opposition for transfer of the 60 infant places to Cranleigh. The draft scheme
requested by the Diocese removes the educational purpose and confers on the Diocese a power of disposal of the property free of trust. At the
meeting there was overwhelming opposition to this draft Scheme.
COMMENTS OF VILLAGERS TO THE COMMISSION SHOULD BE SENT BY 15TH JULY
The Parish Council has been asked to circulate the following notes about how to comment:-
Quoting:
Case Number: 231352
Some of the principal points in the Parish Council comments will be these:-
2 July 2009
(Dunsfold Address)
Charity Commission Direct
Dear Charity Commissioner
Ref: Dunsfold Church of England School
Having been part of a village working party, reviewing the potential reuse of our empty Infant School building for educational community
use, I was dismayed to see a copy of the Draft Scheme, prepared by the Charity Commission on behalf of the Diocese of Guildford for the removal of
the educational Trust status for these buildings, culminating in the potential disposal of the assets by the Diocese.
We believe that the Diocese should not benefit by the disposal of an asset originally bequeathed to the village, and left in Trust, and given to the
Diocese, for educational use. Even though the Diocese engineered the closure of the school under false promises of infant places in Cranleigh, there
is still an educational need for an Infant and Nursery School in our village. Currently we have some 53 children in the village under 5 years old. When
they reach school age they face the prospect of being bussed to a school in Godalming, some 7 miles away, as all the local village schools (themselves 5 or
more miles away) are oversubscribed.
The Parish Council has supported the creation of the Little Chestnuts nursery which has to currently operate out of a sports pavilion, whilst waiting for the
Diocese to support our application to take over at a fair price, restore and use the empty school building. The Nursery now has some 35 children and may not
be able to continue satisfactorily in their current temporary premises.
It was our intention to discuss these proposals with the Diocese, and a number of meetings have been proposed, but they have not appeared willing to have any
meaningful discussions with us. It has now become apparent that their motive was to avoid discussion with the Parish, as they have an ulterior motive to become
free to sell and remove the asset value from the village.
We are a growing village, and the school building represents the only possible venue for educational activities. In addition to the Infant and Nursery
school, we want to provide space for Adult Education. The local authority is supportive of the possible retention for community use, and we have undertaken
a survey of the condition of the premises in order to assess the level of costs for their refurbishment.
We have requested numerous meetings with the Diocese to discuss these needs but to no avail. The Secretary of State for Education has already turned down a
request from the Diocese for a Section 554 release of the Educational Trust, with a statement that the Diocese should liaise with the Parish Council regarding
a transfer of the premises to them. In response the Diocese has gone direct to the Charity Commission to continue their quest to remove the Trust ties on the
premises so that they can maximise their financial gain from the sale.
The issues in my view are:
Yours sincerely,
The crew at Dunsfold work to the Retained Duty System. They have other jobs but are available from either work or home to attend incidents when their pager goes
off. They also educate people to prevent fires and reduce Road Traffic Collisions.
Candidates need to be reasonably fit and be available to attend the Fire Station within 4 mins from either their home or work whilst on call. Retained Duty System Firefighters
receive the same hourly rate of pay as their wholetime colleagues. Crews at Dunsfold attended over 45 incidents last year and on average earned over £3,500 each.
To get more information about joining Surrey Fire and Rescue Service at Dunsfold and help Make Surrey Safer go
to www.surrey-fire.gov.uk/retainedfirefighters or come
down to the Fire Station in Binhams Meadow on Thursday evenings from 19:30 - 21:30 hrs and talk to the firefighters.
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