The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators, a charity which manages land in London, over concerns about a potential financial loss which it claims trustees have yet to address
The charity manages Wimbledon and Putney Commons and has objectives to preserve the commons as open spaces for purposes of exercise and recreation and other purposes.
The Commission opened a regulatory compliance case in September 2015 to examine concerns regarding a potential financial loss to the charity due to the granting of an easement over part of the charity’s land in August 2014.
The Commission met with the charity’s trustees in October 2015 and issued an action plan to the charity, which has an annual income of around £1.5m. However, the regulator says it now has serious concerns that the trustees have not yet complied with this plan.
The Commission is also concerned that the trustees may not be able to agree a way forward due to an ongoing dispute within the trustee body and that potential conflicts of interest may impact some trustees’ decision making.
In addition, it says there may be a continuing risk to charitable property. As a result the Commission’s latest statutory inquiry will examine the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees with specific regard to the issues arising from the granting of the easement in August 2014 for access rights over Putney lower common.
