Can the Trust be trusted?

The BBC thinks it can. The local news reporter bought the Trust’s headline ‘no plans to sell land to developers’, when the piece it put out on TV and online this week plainly said ‘we are keeping an open mind on whether to sell land to developers’. So the headline could equally have said 'no plans not to sell land to developers'.

ITV Central news has been covering this longer than the BBC. But its televised pieces on Wednesday 28 November, featuring Save Shottery, seemed to give more weight to one bemused letter from Susi in Shottery than it did to 1,300 petition signatures from 24 countries.

Through its PR offensive this week, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust thinks it has got everyone where it wants them. It’s presented itself as a thoughtful, considerate organisation that must carefully weigh up information before making any decisions. A body that agrees with protesters, a body that is against development. When it is, in practice, an inert, procrastinating institution, hidebound by irregular meetings and absent Trustees, which played next to no part in the Public Inquiry, allowing the Planning Inspector and Eric Pickles to conclude that, despite its words, it wasn’t really against the development. When it is a body that continues to put up a smokescreen, allowing other organisations to take the strain, financially and politically.

In one breath, Richard Hyde, deputy Chairman of the Trust, says there’s ‘no offer on the table’. In the very next, he says ‘we could have sold the land’. How, without an offer?

For the very reason that the Trust has been peddling a series of mixed messages, the Save Shottery campaign has to pose the question: can the Trust be trusted?

As journalists have yet to get underneath the scandal that we know lurks beneath the facade of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Save Shottery campaign will act as ‘TRUSTwatch’.

We will continue to ask questions. There are still so many that the Trust needs to answer, if it is to regain any kind of good public reputation.

Why is the Trust ‘keeping an open mind’ on something that is so fundamental to its purpose,  when it continues to admit that harm will come to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage through this development? What does that say about the fitness of its Trustees to fulfil its responsibility to the nation?

Why is the Trust waiting until after Stratford District Council has been through the legal process? Their absence from the legal process to date swayed Eric Pickles in favour of development. Their continued absence in the final recourse, the High Court, will simply confirm this.

If the Trust considers this important enough to be decided by the full body of Trustees, as opposed to the Executive group of Trustees, when will it release declarations of interest from individual Trustees?

Until, we get answers from the Trust, we can only define its public position thus:

We are still considering whether to sell out Shakespeare’s legacy for shedloads of money. 

We will not be helpful to any other organisations fighting the development.

We will wait till the Stratford District Council has failed in its final legal attempt, then let
compulsory purchase take place – when we will appear as the victim and get to take all the money. Job done.

How romantic! Shylock couldn’t have thought out a better strategy.

Lifting the lid on Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust will not come out and tell the world its true position, so we thought we’d do it for them.

Consider this...

The Trust has consistently said it is against development on the land it owns behind Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Shottery, Stratford.

The Trust now says it is waiting for the outcome of the legal process at the High Court to be followed by Stratford District Council in an attempt to overturn the Secretary of State’s decision to allow the housing development to take place.

Whether Stratford District Council wins or loses the High Court case, it will still be up to Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State, to make the final decision.

If his final decision is to stop the development, the Trust will be vindicated in its consistent statement opposing development without having to lift a finger or spend a pound. All the work will have been done and the money spent by Stratford District Council (£300K to date) and organisations like RASE (Residents Against Shottery Expansion – thousands to date, over 20 years) and Save Shottery (two self-employed people who cannot earn any money while fighting this).

If Pickles’ final decision is to progress the development, the Trust has the choice of selling the land willingly (for more money), or unwillingly via a Compulsory Purchase Order (probably for less money). In either case, the Trust can say that its hands are tied and, given the situation, it is better to sell for more money. Then, the development will go ahead and there will be some harm to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (as the Public Inquiry and Secretary of State acknowledged). But the Trust will get lots of money for the land and probably a new car park and visitor centre.  Anne Hathaway’s ‘romantic’ environment will have been altered forever, but, hey, it isn’t the Trust’s fault, is it? In which case, the public can only mourn the loss and feel sorry for the Trust.

Win-Win, thinks the Trust                                                                                                                            Either way, the Trust thinks it will win from this situation – as long as it sits tight, does nothing and says even less. However, last week proved that the Trust did not enjoy being in the spotlight, when it thought that Stratford District Council was going to take all the flak. Now, the Trust sits under the same glare as the Council, the developers and the Secretary of State. It knows it cannot escape.

What would you do in its position? Its latest statement claims that ‘Trustees have a legal responsibility to act in the best interestsof the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’. But the Trust is governed by a UK Act of Parliament known as the 1961 Shakespeare Birthplace Act. This means that it ‘owns’ the Shakespeare houses in trust for the nation. Doing what’s best for Shakespeare Birthplace Trust means doing what’s best for the nation. Taking developers’ money to build a car park and get a better visitor centre is pure heresy, given that damage will be done to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and garden by selling the land to developers.

This is a charitable Trust with £21 million of reserves. It has a rolling annual income of about £8 million. Why does it need to sell land? Just what is going on here behind the scenes? Both the Charity Commission and the UK Government need to take a long hard look at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, how it is governed and why it thinks it can act with impunity, by ignoring the wishes of local and national citizens, never mind the tourists of international countries who bring in that income.

There are some huge aspects to be investigated. Is this a dereliction of duty under the 1961 Act? Can a Trust governed by Act of Parliament be so secretive and deny the public access to its Board Meeting minutes? Isn’t it in the British public interest for citizens to know what the Trust is about and why it is not coming out against the Merchants of Venice?

End game
We have said all along that the Trust should come out of its defensive shell and say no to developers up front. It may lose a few millions by doing so, but will gain much in local, national and international kudos and support for doing the job it was invested with.

Having come out, the Trust should then work with local organisations - Stratford District Council, RASE, Nadhim Zahawi MP and Save Shottery - to present a united case in the upcoming High Court case and say No to Pickles, Yes to Preserves.

Hiding behind twice-yearly Trustee gatherings (many do not even turn up) and irregular executive committee meetings, while apparently waiting for legal advice, is no longer any good to anyone who believes in preserving Shakespeare’s legacy. The Trust employs these lawyers – get them to work faster.

We know what the Trust is up to. It may well get what it wants in the end. But Save Shottery wants the world to know what the Trust is up to. We would like the world to tell the Trust what you think of this selfish and short-term policy to benefit its bank balance to the detriment of its true duty to the world – to preserve the legacy of Shakespeare, his life and times.

We must not let the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust escape the spotlight. Win or lose, we must expose the truth.

12 key questions for SBT

It’s been quite a week.

24 hours to go before Shakespeare Birthplace Trustees meet to discuss the situation around the land they own at the back of Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the land the developers need.

So, here we are. The people of Stratford are against development. Stratford District Council is against development. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is opposed to development. MP Nadhim Zahawi is against it. 800 people from Stratford, the UK and the world have signed the Save Shottery petition in just 100 hours. What if everyone could now work together, present a united front?  What might we achieve?

Now that Stratford District Council has recommended going for a final Judicial Review at the High Court (hopefully to be confirmed next week), we have a little more time.

About time

When we began the Save Shottery campaign, time was not on our side. Yet, thanks to the power of social media, in just five days we think we have achieved our first objective of putting Shakespeare Birthplace Trust under the spotlight – alongside Eric Pickles, Stratford District Council and Bloor Homes/Hallam Land Management.  No mean feat – but all thanks to you and your support.

As they prepare for tomorrow’s Trustees’ meeting, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust seems to consider it unfair that it has been singled out for attention this week. But the Save Shottery campaign strategy has been a simple one. If you’re going to win the war, you can only fight the battle in front of you. This week, in the war to save Shottery from development, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has been the battle in front of us. This is what the Trust must understand tomorrow.

Being under the spotlight doesn’t mean that Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is tainted in the same way as the other protagonists. At least not yet.  As we await the outcome of the Trustees’ Board meeting, we are encouraging the Trust to come off the fence and be the hero of this controversial and unnecessary situation.

Yesterday, we turned our attention on Stratford District Council, which met to discuss whether to recommend going to Judicial Review.  We made it plain to them that this isn’t just down to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. We have to continue working on the people who got us into this mess in the first place.

When the future of the Shakespeare legacy is at stake, there is no place to hide for any organisation with an important decision to make – locally, nationally, internationally. Thanks to all your support for Save Shottery, we hope the Shakespeare BirthplaceTrust and Stratford District Council can now see this. Whether the Trust and the Council will then act positively and decisively is another matter. So, while it will not likely be as relentless in its activity as this week, the Save Shottery campaign will continue next week and beyond. We will be watching and acting.

Grab this opportunity

To all the cynics out there, people can change, people can change anything.  We’ve shown all week, in adapting our message, that we can change, that we’re listening and responding to what the Trust says. Can the Trust now listen, adapt and respond? Can the Trust change?

It needn’t take too long to think about it. Hopefully, thanks to the way that social media can reach around the world with such immediacy, the Trust realises that secrecy, inertia and procrastination will no longer serve it.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. To take it, the organisation will need to radically change its approach to communicating and engaging with the world. 

SBT, we are with you on that and can help you with that. As long as you are prepared to see sense and fight more proactively and publicly to preserve the land around Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, for today’s and future generations.

There are several tough questions that Shakespeare Birthplace Trust needs to answer, publicly, very soon.

We appreciate that these are difficult questions. But, if you want the world to work with you, not against you, you need to come clean and set the position straight on a number of fronts.

1.       Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has said it has always opposed development of Shottery land behind Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. But what has it ever done in practice to support that position?

 

2.       Why did Shakespeare Birthplace Trust neither attend nor speak out at the Stratford District Council meetings to oppose development and the ensuing Public Inquiry – where the developers’ lawyers were able to belittle the importance of Shakespeare to Shottery?

3.       Why would Bloor Homes/Hallam Land Management proceed with such a controversial development if they didn’t believe that Shakespeare Birthplace Trust would sell the land they need to them?  

4.       Before the planning and legal processes were even over, did Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, or any individual connected with it, lead Bloor Homes/Hallam Land Management to believe you would sell? 

5.       Has Bloor Homes/Hallam Land Management made an offer to Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for the land? Rumours say they have - anything between £4 million and £14 million.

6.       Does Shakespeare Birthplace Trust really need money when it has £21 million in reserves and a rolling average annual income of about £8 million?  

7.       Apparently, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust building in Henley Street needs urgent repairs and money from land sale could be devoted to that. Is this true? If so, how much money is needed for that? Not £14 million. Not £4 million. Are you seeking funds to have part of Cottage Lane pedestrianised in front of Anne Hathaway’s Cottage? Or to build a new Visitor Centre? If so, why not fight land sale, communicate your need and fundraise separately for these?

8.       Given that Shakespeare Birthplace Trust holds the Shakespeare buildings in trust for the nation, according to Act of Parliament, isn’t it an absolute priority of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to reach a decision quickly on Shottery and communicate that publicly? The fact that Trustees only regularly meet twice a year is no answer. What’s stopping you speaking out? 

9.       Wouldn’t a charity whose only agenda was preservation do anything – and be open to offers of collaboration - rather than sell out an international icon to developers?

10.   If Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is to change and adapt to the modern world, doesn’t it need to review its Governance? It has an archaic Trustee structure which no longer reflects the 1961 Shakespeare Birthplace Act - would the Charity Commission be interested in your fitness for the role you exist to fulfil?

11.   Although you are not legally obliged to do so, in the interests of transparency will you publish a list of the Trustees who have declared a conflict of interest between their role as a Trustee and their personal or business interests elsewhere?

12.   With one of the biggest cultural ‘draws’ in the world, why not be the heroes here and work with people and organisations - locally, nationally and internationally – to preserve Shakespeare’s legacy, life and times for everyone, rather than the business interests of a few?

SDC - APPEAL AGAINST PICKLES!

Join us today 15 Nov: STRATFORD TOWN HALL, 11am

Stratford District Council MUST appeal against Eric Pickles' ruling. The Conservative leaders got us into this mess by including Shottery in their spacial plans - despite opposition from local people and the Lib Dems. They must now sort out the mess their national government has put us in by abandoning the Localism Act.

 

Join Save Shottery, RASE and other angry residents at the meeting of Stratford District Council's Regulatory Committee at the Town Hall, Sheep Street, Stratford upon Avon at 11am today.

The world is now awake to the fate of Shottery. On behalf of the world, local residents must make sure the Council uses its right of legal appeal. If it doesn't, they'll be next to get a Save Shottery petition...