Fall out in Shenstone mending

For months now there has been a stand-off between Shenstone Parish Council and community groups making up the Playing Fields Management Committe which, as the name suggests, looks after the village sports field.

It’s got really nasty with fault on both sides although the biggest problem, as far as I could see, was personalities. One of those times when people have got entrenched and inflexible. It actually got very nasty with the parish council threatening all sorts and some of the user groups that use the field using the media to gain support.

The latter was done very effectively and has made the parish council look worse than, in reality, they are… not that there isn’t blame to be accepted on that front.

I offered months ago to act as an honest broker to try and move things along but the offer, whilst accepted by the Playing Fields Committee, was flatly turned down by the parish. I decided to leave them to it. But months went by and my concerns that the parish would get themselves into a deeper and deeper hole were becoming a reality.

Perception is what matters when it comes to public opinion and they were squarely beaten on that front despite the fact that in many ways their standpoint was right. With the situation going from bad to worse it was clear that something had to give somewhere and so I stepped down from my position of sitting on the fence in this case and decided to face the dangers of parish politics.

To cut a long story short, it paid off. The two sides met with me today and after two hours we’ve agreed the basics of a way forward. It’s by no means fixed but the sides are now talking and I’ve agreed to chair a small steering group to review the legal arrangements in place, look at the fair use policy of the playing fields users and generally try and put things on a firmer footing. So, a result, and the first of steering group meeting is the week after next.

With luck they’ll continue the entente cordiale.

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