In 1933 when Blacka was handed over to Sheffield City Council in trust for the people of Sheffield, the terms of the gift were secured in a covenant which is legally binding.
It is in the nature of things that people forget or have limited recollections of such matters. But there have always been enough people around since 1933 to have an idea of what was in that covenant even if unsure of the detail.
The real issue is what happened to the Covenant in 1999 and afterwards. The council decided to give Blacka Moor to an outside agency. You would think that the Covenant would have been at the centre of the discussions around this. But instead of that the council decided to restrict access to the document. Members of public and even councillors were not allowed to see the covenant. It was shown to a small sub committee but members were told they couldn't share this with other citizens.
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In the USA we have something called the Freedom of Information Act http://www.nist.gov/admin/foia/foia.htm. Which can be used in court to force the release of information. In the UK is there a similar vehicle that can be used to force the Sheffield City Council to release the covenant?
Hello up,
Yes that's an interesting point. We too now have a Freedom of Information Act and I've used it to some effect on the Blackamoor issue. It didnt come into British law until I think 2001. I'm pretty sure the Sheffield Council would not have been able to keep the documents secret after that. The problem we had was that we didn't find out with certainty what the terms were until 2004 when we got to see the Graves Covenant. This meant things had moved on by then and momentum was all with those who wanted to dispose of the land.
We've always been led to understand that the USA was a model for other countries in the openness relating to public information and we are only now catching up. but some officials still don't like it when they're obliged to hand over documents. I've suspected things have been held back but you have to make a very determined stand to query everything.
Have you personally had experience of using your FOI rights to obtain information?
I have no personal experience using the FOI act. I just know it is there to be used if needed.
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