You will all be aware that the Parish Council attended Court on 13^th November for sentencing following its unsuccessful defence of the hearing in July, in respect of the breach of the Abatement Order in place at the War Memorial Park.

Following the removal of the MUGA the Complainants legal team wrote to the Court requesting that the fine be nominal as the Parish Council had now complied with the Order.  At the sentencing hearing the District Judge took the letter from the Complainants legal team into consideration and imposed a nominal £100 fine rather than a tens of thousand pounds fine which the Parish Council could have been faced with had they not acted prior to the hearing, by removing the MUGA.  At the hearing the District Judge also awarded costs to the Complainants’ legal team of £130,000.

It has been noted that there are many social media outlets misquoting the awarding of £130,000 legal costs to the Complainants solicitors, as compensation to the Complainants.  This is totally false and to continue to repeat this claim is disingenuous.