“I do so much in the city, and all I’m asking for is to keep up a shed. It’s utter madness.”
The words of John McGall, after a planning wrangle threatened the community food bank he has run in York for more than four years.
The I Am Reusable food bank helps around 120 people a day, seven days a week.
It is run from a purpose-built shed on John’s land at his Aldborough Way home. The story began when Covid hit, and John began by giving away donations of food from a table.
Then a friend, Andrew Robinson, built the shed from wood donated from York Sawmill so the food bank could become permanent.
“We took advice. It’s on our land. We made sure that it didn’t encroach onto the pavement,” John points out.
And thanks to 160 donations a week, from everyone from M&S and Sainsbury’s to more local favourites like Bettys and Bluebird bakery, and the generosity of local farmers, the food bank has helped thousands of people struggling to make ends meet.
A team of volunteers make the food bank a 365-a-day year operation.
But that has all been put under threat. “It’s a single complaint, one single complaint, and as far as we know, it’s anonymous,” John said.
That complainant said John didn’t have planning permission to run the shed. And despite a two-year dialogue with City of York Council, it has decided he must seek planning permission, and pay the fee – £1,000.
John has had to set up a crowdfunding page to raise the cash and save the food bank.
“It’s really upsetting,” John told YorkMix. “I know the council got a job to do and a duty, and I know the council get a lot of flak.
“I want to work with them honestly, not against them.
“I just wanted a nice, easy solution to the problem, and we’ve had to come up with this. I’m disappointed, it didn’t need to be this way.”
He added: “It’s a shed. It’s got no concrete base so it can be taken down. Hopefully we’ll have to have food banks in a few years time. Who knows? So it can be taken down and put back.
“It’s as green as possible. And the waste food that we pick up would have just gone to landfill.
“So we’re doing the job of somebody in the council on their behalf. That’s the soul destroying thing, we’ve built this up with all our donators and sponsors and it’s at risk for one complaint – it just seems really ludicrous.”
‘I am speechless’
The response to the fundraising campaign has been “really good”. “
He says: “This money is just going to be wasted when that money could have been put towards a building, it could have been put towards food, education, because we like to educate people out to cook.”
John who retired early after having open heart surgery, added: “I think most people know that I’m not very well. I don’t really need this stress. I just want to help people and feed people because I know what it’s like to struggle.”
One woman visiting the food bank yesterday told YorkMix that she lost her job and is a carer, but Universal Credit only covers half the money she needs to keep afloat.
“This is one of the main places that I come for groceries to feed my household. So if these guys go, I mean, it will just leave me feeling suicidal,” she said.
Learning about the planning wrangle that threatened the food bank left her shocked. She urged the council to work with John.
“I’m speechless at the cruelty of it and the stupidity.”
Council responds
A spokesperson for City of York Council said: “The council has been advising IAmReusable over the past couple of years and continues to do so to help the foodbank meet statutory responsibilities, and continue supporting the local community and serving those most in need.
“Planning application fees are a legal requirement set by the government and cannot be waived. However, we understand a successful crowdfunding campaign has raised several times the £578 fee required.
“Clarification on the level of planning fee has been communicated to the foodbank to avoid any misunderstanding. Organisations are also encouraged to formalise their governance status so that they can apply for the widest range of available funding.
“It is important to adhere to the planning process to allow local residents living in the vicinity and the wider community to share their comments, which are taken into account when a decision is made.
“The council also has an obligation to address planning matters within a reasonable timescale to avoid the potential of financial penalties from the Local Government Ombudsman.
The council is unable to waive rules on planning as it is legally required to apply to all residents, businesses and other organisations in the city.”
