Pastures New

Sir Leonard Fenwick has stood down from the Stewards Committee after over 34 years as a member and as Chairman; during his tenure as Chairman, there have been many changes in Committee, contributing to the progress of the Freemen of Newcastle, in particular via two pieces of legislation. Sir Leonard was part of a dynamic team along with Stephen Alderson, Vice Chairman at the time, and Val Dodds, Head of Legal Services, Newcastle City Council, who came together to progress one of the most important pieces of legislation, a new Town Moor Act, which had become necessary to protect the Freemen and the Town Moors from the effect of the Local Government Act 1985, which if unchallenged would have effectively wiped out the rights of the Freemen of Newcastle and opened up the Town Moors for plundering, the Town Moor Act 1988 was the saviour.

20 years later under his Chairmanship we once again headed to Parliament with the City Council, this time to alter Clause 28 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 which was in the final stages of the Parliamentary procedure, the amendment constructed by Head of Legal Services, Val Dodds, changed the clause which, if left unchallenged would have only given the right for Freemen throughout the Country to vote on whether or not to admit daughters as Freemen, our amendment gave daughters of Freemen the same rights as sons to be admitted as Freemen in their own right, fortunately our amendment received cross party support and was accepted and included in the Bill and received Royal Assent.

Although there have been many challenges to overcome during his time as Chairman these two were the most important for the Freemen of Newcastle. The 2009 amendment also being of particular benefit to daughters of Freemen throughout the Country. We are confident Sir Leonard has left the Freemen of Newcastle stronger and in a better position than when he arrived and in safe hands with David Wilson being elected as Chairman after 10+ years as Vice Chairman.

We extend our thanks to Sir Leonard for his monumental service and wish him the absolute best for the future.