Prue Whyte announces that she plans to step down from board

The chairman of the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators has announced that she will not be seeking re-election in February 2018.

Posting on the PutneySW15.com forum Prue Whyte said that ‘an extremely destructive small group’ had the aim of bringing the charity down and therefore she believed that she and the other conservators elected in February 2015 should step down to allow the charity to move forward.

The Commons Conservators: From L to R standing: Derek Frampton, Sir Ian Andrews, Keith Luck, Nicholas Evans, Prue Whyte. From L to R seated: Shirley Gillbe, John Cameron, Dr Ros Taylor

She said, “We need a clean sweep so that the charity can move forward with confidence into the next triennium. Our precious open spaces are more important than any individual or group of individuals.”

Prue Whyte has lived by Putney Lower Common for over 30 years and regularly walks her dog in the open space which she pledged to work to protect when she took on the role of Elected Conservator.

The Charity Commission is currently conducting a statutory inquiry into the work of the Conservators which they hope to conclude in the first half of the year. The protracted and bitter dispute about the sale of a strip of land on Putney Common has required the intervention of the Commission.

Prue Whyte added, “We have many talented levy-payers with sound common sense and appropriate skills including the ability to work collectively who we need to support to take on these important Conservator/trustee roles.

“I will give them my full support in whatever way I can. I will also continue to give my full support to the quite excellent staff that WPCC is fortunate enough to employ. “

Nicholas Evans of the Friends of Putney Common welcomed the announcement saying that Prue Whyte’s time as chairman had not been a success.

He said, “Hopefully the Charity Commission’s Statutory Inquiry report will mean a new beginning. The only remaining question relates to the size of the losses incurred at Putney Common, and the Interim Manager seems to have this in hand. The wider issues of how this came about will be answered in due course.”

January 5, 2018