**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
## **CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY:**
## **Registered Charity 1192171 ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS**
## **FOR THE PERIOD 01/07/22 TO 30/06/23**
## Table of Contents
1. Chair’s Report.........................................................................................................2 2. Objectives...............................................................................................................3 3. Achievements.........................................................................................................4 4. Impact and Value....................................................................................................4 5. Sponsored Organisations........................................................................................4 6. Other activities........................................................................................................6 7. Long Term Strategy................................................................................................6 8. Statutory Information..............................................................................................7 9. Treasurer’s Report: Accounts.................................................................................8 Appendix A...................................................................................................................9
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
## Reporting Requirements
As our annual income has exceeded £25,000 we are required to have our accounts audited or independently examined. The duties of the independent examiner are quoted below. We have had our accounts so examined.
_“The duty of the independent examiner is to give what is called ‘negative assurance’. After looking at the evidence the examiner reports whether or not certain matters “have come to my attention”. These include lack of accounting records and the failure of accounts to comply with the Charities Act. As well as scrutinising the accounts, the independent examiner may also help prepare the accounts in the format required and help prepare the trustees’ annual report._
_When choosing an independent examiner, you should make sure that he or she is fully independent of your charity and able to carry out a proper charity independent examination. An independent examiner may be, for example, a charity treasurer or finance worker, or an accountant from industry or the public sector. The key is that they must have a good understanding of charity finance and the law.”_
Our accounts for 2022/23 have been independently examined by Mr Andrew Wickham, retired Chartered Accountant and Company Financial Director who reports that
_“I have reviewed the Accounts and I am satisfied they reconcile to the Bank Statements.”_
The examiner’s details and confirmation are to be found in Appendix A
This report is to be submitted within ten months of our year end, i.e. by 30th April 2024.
## 1. Chair’s Report
Capel Greenbelt Protection Society (CGPS) was formed in 2019 by residents of the small Parish of Capel near Tonbridge in Kent, who were concerned about the future development, use of, and education regarding the countryside around the Parish. This is a combination of Metropolitan Green Belt and the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and provides a wonderful rural backdrop to life in the small community of around 900 dwellings and 2,400 residents.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has included 2,100 new houses in West Capel (Tudeley)
in their Local Plan period to 2038 (recently increased from 1,900) and 2,160 new houses in
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
East Capel between Five Oak Green and Paddock Wood (recently increased from around
1,500) in its draft Local Plan.
The CGPS financial year of 2022-2023 was a very busy and successful one in which the charity’s objectives of protecting, educating, and using the Green Belt in the Parish continued to be funded by the local community.
CGPS raised a further £1,854 in addition to the previous Financial Year’s of over £40,000.
The funds have been put to good use for the benefit of the local public to support the charity’s purposes of Education, Use and Protection of the local Green Belt. The charity had
funds, at the Financial Year End, of £9,468 to continue to apply to good causes.
Projects supported by donations from the Charity during FY22/23 include:
1. (to educate) - Youth Groups
- a. Brownies
- b. Capel Pre-school
- c. Capel Primary School
2. (to use)
- a. The Parish Allotments
- b. Capel Path Rangers (CPR)
3. (to protect)
- a. The Save Capel campaign Green Belt from over-development
These projects are reported on in more detail in this report below and at the CGPS website
(https://www.capelgb.com/).
The charity continues to seek funding and worthy causes to support.
## 2. Objectives
Our Charitable Objectives are primarily to protect our local Green Belt and educate and support the General Public to use the Green Belt for their benefit.
**1. To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of Capel Green Belt and High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty**
## **2. To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of Capel Green Belt and High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty**
We believe in
- the advancement of our local environmental protection and improvement
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
- conservation of our local flora, fauna and the local environment in these areas
- we want to do this through the promotion of sustainable development and biodiversity in our Parish
- including the promotion of recycling, flood defences, and sustainable waste management
-
- the advancement of community development
- sustainable urban and rural regeneration within the Parish of Capel
- through the promotion of volunteering for public benefit
- coordinating different, like-minded societies and organisations
- raising, and managing funds and donations for organisations that support our Society objectives
CGPS are involved in:
- 1.The promotion of the conservation, protection, and improvement of the physical and natural environment by supporting access and conservation projects and programmes that protect features of wildlife flora and fauna in the British countryside generally and responsible and sustainable use of these environments.
- 2.The education of the public in subjects pertaining to the conservation, protection, and enjoyment of the countryside.
Our development activities will be presented as the WWW Programme – Wellness, Wilding and Walking, and will seek to encourage local people to make the best use of the countryside.
## 3. Achievements
Since the charity’s initial reporting period, the charity has
1. responded to the threats in the TWBC Local Plan to build 4,260 new houses, five times the existing number of dwellings in the Parish, sponsoring a local campaign.
2. raised Donations and successfully applied for Gift Aid from the HMRC
3. sponsored local organisations (see section 5 below)
## 4. Impact and Value
In its third full financial year, the impact of the charity has continued to be:
- to highlight the harm that would be done to the Green Belt if the TWBC plans are adopted
- to increase awareness of the value of the countryside and the ways it can be enjoyed
- to provide support to the Capel Path Rangers to encourage and enable walking for wellbeing.
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
## 5. Sponsored Organisations
## Capel Path Rangers
CGPS has continued to provide financial support to the Capel Path Rangers, a group of volunteers who work to keep the local footpaths clear and well signposted. During the year the charity funded their Volunteers and Public liability insurance policy. The Path Rangers walk the paths, carry out clearance and minor repairs and report major problems to the KCC Public Rights of Way team for rectification.
## Education
In order to encourage and foster a long-term love for local green spaces, wildlife and the outdoors, CGPS is liaising with local schools and the youth groups within the Capel parish boundaries. Through
these affiliations we engage with early years and school age children, their teachers and parents. The National Curriculum has a focus on the natural environment and sustainable lifestyles. CGPS supports these local schools and youth groups by helping to deliver these elements of the national curriculum and other activities that will encourage use of the greenbelt countryside. CGPS undertakes this activity through financial support, advice and expertise and other materials and resources.
At the end of May 2022, a cheque was presented to Capel Pre-School. The school, catering
for children aged 2-5 years, currently has a small private outdoor space. There is a large
community area around the hall where the school is situated, including the Community Orchard which is used to encourage and nurture the children’s love of the outside which in
turn supports their health and well-being. The children love exploring to see what wildlife
they can find such as worms, spiders and frogs and the Pre-School staff are planning to extend their learning and love of the outdoors by using the funds to introduce more equipment such as bug hunting pots, magnifying glasses, binoculars, bird feeders, planting
and gardening items and books about nature and the countryside.
In November 2022 CGPS were delighted to help out with the planting of the new ornamental
cherry trees in the Worraker Community Orchard. CGPS also presented a cheque to the Five
Oak Green Community Gardening Group to support their work in enhancing the Community
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
Orchard. The Community Orchard is an attractive, peaceful space in the village, nestled next to the Recreation Ground. The Community Gardening Group are hoping to plant pollinators
around the trees which in turn will attract insects and other wildlife. Our funding will contribute to the installation of an “Interpretation Board” permanently sited in the orchard
which will be both informative and educational.
In January 2023 CGPS were pleased to receive an update on the great progress that had been made by Capel School and their Forest School initiative. A teacher at the school had recently qualified as a level 3 Forest School leader, the training having been funded by a donation from CGPS. The school is running weekly sessions, giving each class a term of Forest school through the school year. The Forest School area in the school grounds is progressing well and a newly constructed canopy has been a great bonus, especially in wet weather. The children have enjoyed making a bug hotel and a mud kitchen. Trees had been planted for the Queen’s Jubilee green canopy and also wild flower seeds to encourage bees, butterflies and bugs to visit. Although it had been cold and wet, year six enjoyed campfire cooking, with pizza wraps and campfire doughnuts being favourites. Year three started to
create a fort and have floated puddle boats. Future projects that the school hope to get everyone involved with include making a living fence around the Forest School area with
edible berries and fruits and creating more bug habitats around the school. The children are all really enjoying themselves. This initiative has been greatly enhanced by the financial donation from CGPS in the previous financial year.
Wilding
We continue to explore how wilding can be incorporated into the Parish as a way of enhancing the Greenbelt land.
In 2022/23 we have engaged with the local Community Gardening Group who share some of our objectives. This group maintains the Community Orchard and public areas of planting in the village
of Five Oak Green. They have a strong emphasis on sustainable planting for the village flower beds
and actively include plants that attract pollinators, including in the Community Orchard which has
been supported financially by CGPS. Prunings in the Community Orchard have been used to create a
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
“dead hedge”; i.e., an upright structure of woody cuttings woven between vertical stakes which provides a haven for wildlife.
## Capel Allotments
The charity donated the costs of a substantial, secure, Notice Board for the Parish Allotments to enable the Parish Council to more effectively communicate and report on allotment activities and plans.
## Save Capel Campaign
CGPS has supported a local campaign called “Save Capel” - whose sole objective is to protect the Green Belt from over-development by building developers due to the local Borough Council’s draft Local Plan. In response to the charity’s activities in sponsoring awareness and implementation of the local “Save Capel” campaign’s organisation, over 3,000 responses, overwhelmingly against the local Borough Council’s draft Plan, were submitted by local people in the Reg 18 consultation and approximately 1,000 to the Reg 19 consultation in 2021. We have helped raise money to support the local community’s campaign against the proposals, under the banner of “Save Capel”. Professional expertise has been engaged by Save Capel in the legal, planning and environmental areas to assist in responding to the local Borough Council’s draft Local Plan, facilitated by the charity.
## 6. Other activities
## Green Belt Public Awareness Campaign
CGPS continues to publicise and promote the purposes of the charity and explain the activities that CGPS are involved in. Publicity is achieved through social media (Facebook), local publications, a presentation at the Annual Parish Meeting and through the CGPS website. This activity results in financial donations and pledges to the objectives of CGPS.
The charity submitted hearing statements and attended the Independent Examination Hearings of the TWBC Local Plan, focusing on the harm that would be done to the Green Belt if it is adopted.
CGPS also championed Keep Kent’s Green Spaces Day of Action on 24th November 2021 at two sites of strategic importance in terms of local threats to the Greenbelt. The Day of Action was well supported and resulted in much local media interest.
## 7. Long Term Strategy
CGPS believes that protecting the Green Belt in Capel is an important short-term objective. Once the status of this section of Green Belt has been secured the charity will concentrate on seeking donations and grants to sustain the CGPS WWW and Education Strategies for the benefit of the General Public. We will continue to seek
## **CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
grants and donations to sponsor local organisations increase public benefit from the use of the Green Belt particularly among the following groups:
1. School age children
2. Elderly
3. Dog walkers
4. Adults who may not otherwise enjoy the Greenbelt countryside
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
## 8. Statutory Information
CGPS was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 5[th] November 2020, charity number 1192171.
The Registered Office is: 3 Bank Farm Cottages Sherenden Lane Tudeley Tonbridge Kent, TN11 0PB
Full details are available at www. https://www.capelgb.com
The Trustees at 30[th] June 2023 are:
Chair Dr David Parrish Deputy Chair Konrad Legg Treasurer Robert Assirati CBE Trustee Hilary Andrews
The charity’s bankers are: HSBC UK 39 High Street Ashford Kent, TN24 8TG
**CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION SOCIETY**
## 9. Treasurer’s Report: Accounts
CGPS accounts are prepared on a Cash Accounting basis.
|CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION|||
|---|---|---|
|SOCIETY|||
|**£**|||
|**Sterlin**|||
|**g**|||
|||FY 2021/2|
||FY 2022/3||
|Donations received|1,854.14|40,352.39|
|Disbursement|||
|s:|||
|Planning Reports||2,400.00|
|Legal||34,20|
|expenses|6,240.00|0.00|
|||11,82|
|Transport Reports|2,580.00|0.00|
|Grants to other organisations|1,118.80|6,900.47|
|Administrative expenses and|||
|memberships|393.23|1,047.21|
||-----------|-----------|
|Total|||
|outgoings|10,332.03
|53,967.68|
|Closing Bank Balance|9,440.03
|17,917.92|
I confirm that this report and accounts are an accurate reflection of the CGPS charity’s accounts for 2022/3.
Name: ………………………………………….. Chair…………………………………………..
Position:
CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION S%,
Date..
CAPEL GREENBELT PROTECTION S%,
Appendix A
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
I reportthat the accounts for the period ended 30June 2023 were examlned. wlth
audit. from the records supplied to me and the inforrnation and explaT>ations give
l am tiSfied they reconcile to the Bank Staternerts.
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