Battlemead purchase puts council in a pickle

Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) is a contract law principle familiar to anyone involved in buying property but I’m afraid the council may have overlooked this warning back in 2018 leaving them in quite a predicament today.

It was at the start of September 2018 that RBWM exchanged contracts for the purchase of around 112 acres of land next to the Thames, which they later named Battlemead Common (rather misleadingly, as it’s not legally a common).

When the opportunity arose, despite having no approved budget for it, the administration jumped at the chance to invest £1.16m of public money in acquiring the land using ‘urgent decision’ powers to commit to the transaction before seeking permission for the extra budget.

The confidential report presented retrospectively to the full council (released under Freedom of Information) shows they felt compelled to hurry the purchase to avoid missing out on the chance to acquire the land enabling completion of key

pathways and providing additional public open space.

Yet this was risky as the administration failed to conduct robust due diligence before exchange, most significantly not performing an ecological survey.

Now, given what the CIPFA report has taught us about the deficiencies in financial governance during this period, particularly relating to capital investments, it doesn’t take a massive leap of imagination to assume there would have been significant pressure from the top to make this happen regardless.

When an ecological survey was finally undertaken it became clear they hadn’t fully understood what they’d purchased; Battlemead is home to several Habitats of Principal Importance, designated at a national level, supporting sensitive wildlife such as ground-nesting birds.

Councils have a legal duty, when managing their land, to have regard to the purpose of conserving biodiversity.

Our council has also adopted an Environment and Climate Strategy with a focus on enhancing the natural environment.

It’s therefore very disappointing that the administration now seem resolute in pushing ahead with opening up even more public access at Battlemead on top of what has already been provided, specifically adding a path right through the middle of a highly sensitive wetland habitat.

Personally, I’m delighted that, serendipitously, RBWM acquired this haven for wildlife and I know many share this view with several hundred signing the live petition (https://bit.ly/2UZSbAB) to reject proposals for this new path.

Whilst I genuinely sympathise with those that saw the acquisition of Battlemead as fulfilling long-held ambitions for public amenity, RBWM cannot simply derogate from its obligations just because it made promises that it should not have.

If anything, it’s not the conservationists’ desire to protect this precious site that should be seen as a source of annoyance but rather the council’s introduction of that most troublesome of species, the white elephant.

ADAM BERMANGE Boyn Hill Close

Maidenhead