All The Doccuments

 
 

Links to all the correspondence, court papers etc. in this sorry mess. It is really important for us to share this, and show that our communication remained professional and seeking solutions with Forestry England at all times.

We kept this out of the public domain for so long, in the hope that we could find a reasonable and amicable solution.

2 Years ago we asked what their plans were following the end of Foresters Forest funding, and we were told that they wanted us to stay and continue with the heritage crafts & social forestry activities with funding from other sources such as Barnwood Trust. This is the length of time it takes to forward plan an alternative location & move an entire project & if they had been honest at this point and said that our position at Kensley Sheds was uncertain, then we would have started researching alternatives and putting more energy into our other sites, rather than keeping energy at Kensley.

If you think something is missing from here please ask, we will keep adding documents in a logical order as they come to light.

We believe in complete transparency - shared decision making - partnership - and REAL inclusion (not just swanky ‘engagement events’ and lip service’

  1. Email to Kevin Stannard & Tom Brockington 3rd January

  2. Email chain to kevin stannard - 31-01-23

  3. Email to Jake Rostron, Michelmores Solicitors 16-3-23 - CLEARLY & PROFESSIONALLY explaining our position & need for more time to protect the community mental health support & activities. - Pleading with them NOT to waste money from the public purse, when we can negotiate a reasonable exit strategy.

  4. Email chain from 19th - 23rd December - Expressing our shock at the speed of their decisions without die process & asking that if they do choose to end the agreement for Kensley Sheds, that we are at least able to finish the academic year to minimise impact of the students and the community mental health sessions.

  5. Emails from NOVEMBER 2021 - trying to push forward the lease that had been agreed, but the person in estates due to leave.

Court Bundle - 22 May 2023 - Claim no. KOOGL299

Defence Contents

1.     Defence form & particulars of defence

2.     Brief Timeline of Kensley Sheds, The Rewild Project & Forestry England Partnership 2016 – Present.

3.     Email from Forestry England with agreement in principle for 10 year lease.

4.     A - Legitimate Expectation, B - Proprietary Estoppel & Licences Acted Upon.

5.     Letter from Forestry England 19 December.

6.     Email Correspondence.

7. A 31-03-23 Letters from Forestry England & Michelmores.

7B. 6-2.23 - Kevin Stannard to The Rewild Project (Saying that we were trying to defend ‘the indefensible’ (Yet they did not consult any HSE person / on what basis does he say it is indefensible? Rewild are experts in outdoor education & winter wilderness. Who did they consult to make any of these assumptions?

7C 5-01-23 - Kevin Stannard Letter with Investigation Outcome.

Brief Exert from his letter

1)  A director of Rewild CiC did take a group of young people out onto the ice of a frozen lake. - Correct

2)  Forestry England were not asked for permission to do so, and did not give any such permission. - Yet they knew we walked around the lake every morning, as proven by our social media posts, and grant funding reports sent to them.

3)  Forestry England never saw, nor approved a risk assessment for the activity prior to being informed the activity had taken place; and further the risk assessment provided after the act would seem to be wholly inadequate. - We did not regularly send any such risk assessments for ay Kensley Sheds activities. We publish all our documents publicly and send to funders and partners directly when asked, but this was not part of any agreement. We were never asked for any of the home education activities funded by FE/Foresters Forest, and this activity was a continuation of that, funded by other sources.
- Who says the risk assessment was wholly inadequate. We have since had numerous professionals endorse our activity including an independant HSE Officer, and the local Fire & Rescue Water Safety Expert as part of the LADO Safeguarding Process. Forestry England have been completely unable to back up these spurious claims made against us.

4)  Our firm view is that this incident represents a gross error of judgment which severely undermines our trust in Rewild’s abilities to manage their operations in a professional manner. - These claims are completely UNFOUNDED. There is much evidence that shows no error was ever made. The activities have been deemed safe by all experts involved. The only error was Kevin Stannard of Forestry England making unfounded accusations against us in the first place, and failing to investigate, failing to share information with us as part of our investigation, and using this as an excuse to close down community mental health support from Kensley Sheds.

8.     Email from Gloucestershire County Council informing that Forestry England have not given consent to share their investigations with us.

9.     Meeting minutes recorded between The Rewild Project and Forestry England. - From 2021 - showing that everyone was completely happy with our Social Forestry / Coppicing operations. These were emailed immediately after the meetings took place. (RECORD EVERYTHING YOU DO & SAY WHEN DEALING WITH PUBLIC BODIES)

10. Copies of Contracts & Licence Agreements between The Rewild Project and Forestry England 2017- 2022.

Emma Gleave