Yesterday’s unfolding story of the blue plaque attached to a multi-millionaire’s shooting hut seemed to catch the imagination of many of you. In brief, there’s a blue plaque celebrating a Sport England funding award on a building that received no such award.
This blog can imagine the building and its plaque becoming a tourist attraction – ‘the plaque that fell from heaven’ – on the building off Knott Road, West Northdale, Rosedale in the North York Moors National Park. And this blog has become very emotionally attached to the plaque and would like to be kept up to date with its life. Please send photos of the plaque (not any old plaque, just this plaque) if you see it and there will be a prize of a signed paperback copy of Inglorious for the first convincing image of the building lacking its plaque – for surely Sport England have either been picking up the phone or a large screwdriver to sort this out.
I know it is not the most important thing in the world, but then, what is?, but I am partially consumed with speculation over how a Sport England blue plaque came to be on a building that received no funding from Sport England. I quite fancy getting one for my house, and I’d like one of those blue plaques that say that someone famous lived within too (anybody got a spare?), and my garden is full of birds so an RSPB nature reserve sign wouldn’t seem too much to ask.
But if we are to be more grown up and boring about things, there are some unanswered questions for:
Sport England:
- are you taking steps to get that blue plaque removed?
- how much do these plaques cost you to produce?
- are you aware of any of your blue plaques being missing?
- do your plaques have serial numbers on the reverse so that they are traceable?
- have you ever before had a case where one (or more) of your blue plaques has been displayed on a building without your permission?
- have any laws been broken?
- are you really miffed?
David Ross, multi-millionnaire:
- do you have anything to say about this?
- can you shed any light on the plaque’s provenance?
- when were you last grouse shooting here and did you notice the plaque on the wall?
- have you noticed blue plaques appearing on any other of your buildings around the country and if so, why do you think that you are being targetted in this manner?
- are you really miffed?
North York Moors National Park:
- does this plaque need planning permission?
- am I right in thinking that if it does need it, it hasn’t got it?
- if so, what steps are you taking to remove the plaque?
- are you really miffed?
If this were a race to remove the plaque, which of the three bodies mentioned above do you think will win? Or might there be some other party, armed with a torch and screwdriver who, after dark, will beat you all to it?
Remember, send in any images please and a signed book to the first proof of absence of the plaque.
[registration_form]
Curiouser and curiouser.
If you receive National Lottery / Sport England funding for a project or a building, you have to pay for your own plaque and get it made, following guidelines on design, logo, etc. (see, e.g. https://www.sportengland.org/about-us/branding-logo/). The funding body does not provide it for you. So some of your questions, especially those addressed to Sport England, are a bit wide of the mark, Mark. Sorry to pour this small dose of cold water on it, but I don’t think it’s quite as big a scandal as you are making out. Still funny, though.
Hugh – I don’t think it’s a big scandal – I think it is quite funny.
Personally, I do think it’s a big scandal, if money allotted to a specific sports charity has been used to construct this building, regardless of who bought the plaque! I continue to do the lottery only because there are excellent benefits for wildlife from it. ( I don’t really expect to win, but you never know!) If there is any whiff of scullduggery in the spending of grants, I would stop. I hope the media take this up, the Guardian eg.
It’s very clear that this building has NOT been funded by the Lottery. Can we get our facts right please? See Mark’s earlier posts.
The mystery is that given that it was NOT funded by the lottery, why did someone bung up a plaque claiming that it had been?
It’s not funny if, indeed, public money has gone to a multi millionaire shooter. nNon wonder the National Lottery is
a) in the shit due to greed.
b) owned by Canadians.
Billy, it’s very clear that this building has NOT been funded by the Lottery. Can we get our facts right please? See Mark’s earlier posts.
The Lottery supports many great projects (declaration of interest – I’ve delivered quite a few myself), and I’ve seen no indication at all that it’s “In the Shit” as you put it – whether from greed or other reasons.
Please distinguish between the company who run the public facing lottery itself – scratch cards etc – who may or may not be doing well and may or may not be Canadian, I really don’t know and off topic for this forum I suggest – and the Lottery Funds.
The various Lottery Funds are NOT administered by the company who run the public facing side of the lottery, and are not “owned” by anyone except, in a very general sense, the UK public. I’ve seen no stories alleging impropriety on the part of the funds.
And to repeat yet again, the building that started this thread was NOT funded by the lottery. Lottery money has NOT gone to a multi millionaire shooter. (Public money through Stewardship and other agri-environment schemes probably has, but that’s a completely different topic unrelated in any way the the Lottery).
I decided to try and check out some of the links (should have done that first!). On the Foundation website is an item re the laudable renovation of Westerdale Village Hall. Looking on Grid Reference, it seems as though this hall is very approx 6 miles from the shooting ‘hut’, as a crow flies ( if one dared up there!). I hope the handyman had the wrong map reference.
An excellent piece of detective work!
Can I suggest that the National Lottery and Sport England try fitting their plaques with GPS trackers? Then we can see if they mysteriously stop working near grouse moors.
The plaque doesn’t require planning permission but if the building doesn’t in fact benefit from the funding mentioned then it does need Express Advertisement Consent from the Local Planning Authority, which in this case is the National Park Authority.
Class 2 Schedule 3 of the Advertisement Regulations provides a deemed consent to display an advertisement (and the plaque amounts to an advertisement in the eyes of planning law – in the same way that the door number on your house does) relating to the premises on which it is displayed, without the need for permission from the LPA.
If there is no funding then the plaque does not relate to the land etc. It wouldn’t otherwise fall within any of the other classes of deemed consent and would therefore require express consent from the LPA.
In the absence of the requisite consent the plaque would amount to the display of an unauthorised advertisement. It is immediately a criminal offence to display an unauthorised advertisement (S224 Town and Country Planning Act 1990) with a maximum fine of £2,500 per sign. Criminals? on grouse moors? Never!!
Jason – that’s very interesting and you sound as though you know what you are talking about.Welcome to this blog.