The FOI response from Sutton council included an email from Councillor Richard Clifton, Sutton South Ward, who said:
The grant … was a dollop of money taken out of the pockets of our Council tax payers and paid into the coffers of the Conservators.
…
Eight years ago, at one of the many times that the Council was desperately seeking economies to balance the books as Government support was cut back further and further, the Council discontinued grants it had previously made to a number of bodies, including the Conservators.
The accounts of the Conservators is available to view on their website.
Their investment portfolio is providing an estimated income of £80,000 in the current financial year. The 2025 accounts show the portfolio valued at £1.67 million.
When was this investment portfolio started?
In in the June 2026 meeting, the Chair of the Conservators, Martin Whelton, paid tribute to:
Councillor Vincent Talbot, who had been a previous Chair and who in 1978 had taken the decision to licence landscaping works on the Common and wisely invest the proceeds in an investment portfolio.
The components of the portfolio are known only by the members of the Board of Conservators. However, in the public part of the last Conservators meeting on 13th September 2026, the reduction in holdings of a fund was mentioned. This was Polar Capital Technology Trust, which has almost trebled in value over the past five years.
The fund invests in technology including A.I.
