Background – Mr Jim Kenyon’s Version
Mr Jim Kenyon, Chair of Independent Hemsworth Town Council, informed the Town Council meeting on February 3rd 2022, that the Kirkby Road contract was now completed with Saul Construction Limited.
He went on to say:
- He had negotiated for 8 hours a £182,000 settlement from Saul which more than covered their costs. (bless him he is a tryer)
- The £50,000 advanced to the previous Town Council as part of the Section 106 agreement would not need to be repaid and would now be used to bring Sandygate sports up to “standard”.
The Truth – Mr Jim Kenyon: The Master Negotiator Humiliated
Now Ferret being Ferret, found Kenyon’s claims to be a little too good to be true. Having fully read and understood the signed contract between the two parties, contradictions immediately jumped out.
This was especially true, as we all know, Mr Jim Kenyon was onto a loser ever since the day He, Mr Ian Womersley and others made the decision to rescinded the original contract with Saul Construction Limited.
So, Mr Jim Kenyon can you please explain:
The advanced sum of £50,000 was part of an agreed total sum of £350,000 Section 106 sports money.
Is the outstanding payment of £300000 still to be made?
(Actually, don’t bother your words are meaningless)
You seem to have conveniently forgotten about some of the costs incurred after you rescinded the contract with Saul and even had plans drawn up for your new ill-fated sports facilities venture.
Why have you repeated an old exposed lie of your own making, about Sandygate not being up to standard when the real experts with real qualifications including Sports England had passed it fit for purpose and meeting all the requirements?
How can money that was spent on the Cemetery Road improvements in 2016 (the £50,000 advanced from the Section 106 monies), be used again to improve Sandygate?
So, this logic probably explains your bankruptcy and other financial disasters.
Ferret Investigated further and found that Kenyon was actually totally humiliated during the mediation talks with Saul Construction Limited and sat there long faced and not speaking.
Seemingly, the only truth in Mr Jim Kenyon’s prolonged lying monologue at the Town Council meeting was the £182,000 paid to Hemsworth Town Council in December 2021 by Saul Construction Limited – But why was this paid?
All will become clear shortly and it’s not good for this Township.
Kenyon’s intention was clear, he latched on to this to try to distract and divert attention elsewhere, the old lies came spurting out from his mouth to attempt to turn a humiliating defeat into a victory for the financial business wizard that has a history of business failures and bankruptcy.
However, there is even a snag with this payment of £182,000 and it is a big, big one that Kenyon has chosen to withhold from this Township because of the HUGE financial implications.
To receive the £182,000 – Hemsworth Town Council had to agree to give up on any other monies including the Section 106 obligation monies in the original contract and they agreed to this “in full and final settlement”.
The reason that is a big problem is that the Section 106 sports money was valued at £350,000 of which £50,000 had already been paid and used to improve the Cemetery Road sports by the previous Town Council (Usually referred to by Kenyon as “The last lot”).
So, Mr Jim Kenyon’s great negotiating skills and his inspired victory was in fact a defeat of colossal proportions by losing £300,000 of Sports Section 106 money and possibly £50,000 of affordable housing in addition.
Unfortunately, it gets even worse due to Mr Jim Kenyon “agreeing to give up any other call on any other monies including Section 106 obligation monies in full and final settlement” it could well render the advanced payment of £50,000 refundable, an option that Ferret understands is currently being investigated by Saul Construction Limited.
So, it could mean the loss in total of the full £350,000 that had been earmarked and agreed with WMDC and Sport England to provide family-based activities in the Township.
A massive – Well done Mr Kenyon.
So, in summary – Not only has Mr Kenyon lost the Township the £300,000 Section 106 money, there is a real possibility that Hemsworth Town Council will also have to repay the £50,000 advanced payment which had already been received and spent.
£350,000 which can only come from one place – YOUR PRECEPT.
Well at least in his head, it’s probably another qualification, “Kenyon The Master Negotiator” with the certificate in the loft of course, also known as “The Great Pretender” the man who can spend the same money twice and believes losing £300,000 pounds to provide family-based activities is a great victory…
RESIGN multiplied by 350,000.
Jeepers a coverup of massive proportions to a massive loss and blunder. What barefaced arrogance to sit there on camera to lie again to this community at an official Town Council meeting. Then if that’s not bad enough to want to spend another £50000 on his pet football or in reality to create a monument to the great Kenyon another way now Kirkby road had become another disaster in his long line of disasters. I know let’s hold a music festival to celebrate, invite out of date acts, at top wack prices, marching bands etc and celebrate not the queen but king kenyon. What a complete and utter idiot he is and obviously thinks we are.You couldn’t make it up but Kenyon can. Needs stopping fast
Will people please stop with this “pet football” narrative. It isn’t his pet football he has no involvement with grassroots football. If anything he has tried his best in the past to put obstacles in the way of local football.
However I know not everyone is interested in football. There are other sports available in the Wakefield area, athletics, cricket, rugby tennis also we have a ski slope at exscape to name a few. They may not be in hemsworth, Fitzwilliam, Kinsley, but we can’t have facilities for every sport in our small communities. Wether there are facilities in the area or not at some point if your child/family is involved in a sport you will end up having to travel to compete it’s a commitment. You will be giving your weekends and evenings up to support their activities.
The people who run sports clubs do it voluntarily (no pay) in fact will cost them money to do so. So as a result no one is going to hire facilities, pay room hire for a limited amount of interest.
People talk as though the football teams in the area are up his (JKs) backside, when in fact the club’s are being run despite him.
Football has been run locally for many many years.
West end terriers has been running since 1986, if that doesn’t say it is popular then I give up. Also they have girls teams and girls also play with the boys teams.
It isn’t ideal for people who have interests in different sports but if your interested in a more niche sport you are not going to realistically be able to participate on your doorstep.
i agree football nothing to do with kenyon …if it wasnt for football this kids would be on streets causing mayhem and being accused of anti social behaviour …grass roots football is nothing to do with kenyon
There can be no excuses for Kenyon lying to this community no matter what it is about. It is totally unacceptable. His actions have cost this community and others dearly and must be put to an end. The only people who can do this quickly before the next election are the other councillors particularly those who have been supporting him up to now. Even one changed vote could tip the balance now I believe.
It is not people that need to stop raising football but Kenyon. He raises it time after time particularly when he is trying to avoid answering legitimately asked questions. Yes it does appear to be a favourite of his, remember his plans for the Kirkby road site where predominantly football, his plans for the ill fated scheme on South Kirkby business park were again predominantly football. Didn’t this council also prevent children using sandygate by stopping Sandygate pay and play sessions and they were only restored after a public outcry. Haven’t or weren’t charges scrapped or reduced for the football teams using the sports facilities by this council? There have been many grants paid to football by Kenyons council also. It is Kenyon, the master of diverting attention and deflecting blame that is at fault for always raising football not people who are sick of hearing it from him as an excuse. Critisism of Kenyon is not critisism of football or the good people who work so hard to support it. Let’s work together and rid this community of the real problem that is Kenyon and cronies. There should be no place for a continual liar like Kenyon in our society let alone as the chair of our council.
I’ve been trying to get my head around “The Kirkby Road Site” issues for years and, bit by bit, details are beginning to rise to the surface, thankfully.
Unfortunately, as Ferret sets out the picture so well, it has come with a massive price tag to us.
This massive loss out of our funding most definitely falls under “within the Public Interest” and, in my opinion, HTC should have been far more transparent with precept payers.
I believe they have breach their duty of transparency and, even now they continue to mis-inform.
How can we make them accountable?
All this amounts to gross neglect, dereliction of duty, maladministration…etc
Yet they have incurred thousands in obtaining legal advice – so they must know!
They can have no defense. Sorry, they can have no credible defense!
How do we instigate a Public Interest Report – anybody?
He may personally have nothing to do with grassroots football and probably a good thing too. That said I don’t think it unreasonable to say that many of his biggest cheerleaders have been from the footballing fraternity in Hemsworth
so Kenyon lies to the people again and what will happen about it ? absolutely nothing.
he will remain in power until at least may 2023 when there is the next election and only then if he does not get back on the council. The reason being no matter what he does the majority of htc will blindly support him and vote with him
Slim Jim you’re right about some of his cheerleaders, one, Eric Mitchell has been a Kenyon supporter and associated with local football for many years. He is now one of the independent councillors alongside him. Makes me wonder if declarations of interest were made when grants and any decisions of usage financial or otherwise that benefit clubs he is or has been associated with have been taken/made.