ELVASTON CASTLE

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Following a final AGM on Friday, January 27th, 2006, the Elvaston Castle Estate Trust (of which the Friends of Elvaston was originally a sub-committee), decided that it had exhausted all avenues open to it in its attempts to prevent Derbyshire County Council from disposing of Elvaston Castle Country Park. The Friends of Elvaston split from the Trust recently because of differences in the way they would like to see the Estate handled. The Elvaston Castle Estate Trust was prepared to go forward with private companies which wanted a return on their money.

The ethos of the Friends has always been to try and ensure that the Estate belongs to the community in its entirety and that all profits must be returned towards its improvement. They had been invited to the final meeting in order to resolve some internal matters that had arisen due to their parting of the ways. The Elvaston Castle Estate Trust was dissolved and is, therefore, no longer in existence.

The Friends, or to give them their full title, The Friends of Elvaston Castle (FOE) has decided that under these circumstances they would extend their own title, even though they may still use the abbreviated form in day-to-day matters. From Saturday, January 28th, 2006, The Friends full title will be; ‘The Friends of Elvaston Castle And Estate Trust’ (FOECAET). In this way, the Friends hopes to better reflect its own pursuit of fighting the injustice of the attempted disposal of the Estate by Derbyshire County Council to a private company.

Derbyshire County Council is to consult the public again on the masterplan for the Elvaston Castle and Country Park. The last time people were asked to give their views on the entire site was in 2000, when 78% of people said they did not agree that the estate should be leased or sold to release money for key county council services. Since then, there have been chances to comment separately on schemes for the gardens and castle.

But further delays are now likely after a cabinet meeting at County Hall, when councillors agreed a final consultation exercise should include the proposals for the estate as a whole. They approved a recommendation to publish a notice that would give details of the price of the lease, if that were to become reality. Campaigners who believe the estate should not be run privately have criticised the consultation process and launched legal action against the county council by applying to the High Court for a judicial review.

Graham Mansey, secretary of the Friends of Elvaston action group, which took the legal action, said, "Previous decisions taken by the county council on its public consultations have failed to act upon the fact that five years ago, 78.3% of respondents strongly disagreed with the sale or lease of Elvaston Castle estate. We now want an independent public consultation, in line with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation, where the community is asked the simple question: 'Do you agree to the sale or lease of the Elvaston Castle estate?' The community is entitled to give its response before further action." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Derbyshire County Council, which owns the Elvaston Castle site, intended submitting an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £10m to restore the gardens at the end of 2005, but legal action by the Friends of Elvaston action group has caused a major hold-up. In the face of an application to the High Court for a judicial review over alleged shortcomings in the consultation process for the future of Elvaston Castle and Country Park, the county council's cabinet agreed that people should have an opportunity to comment on proposals. Until now, people have been consulted only on plans for the gardens and the castle separately.

In addition, the county council said it would not agree any lease with Highgate Sanctuary, the developer which has been chosen as a partner in the other part of the Elvaston project to transform the castle into a hotel, while legal proceedings were continuing. A county council spokeswoman said its application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £10m would need to include details of what would happen to the castle building, but this would not be possible until the lease was signed.

She said, "We now intend to submit an application in June, once the judicial review has been completed. We've always known a private company can't benefit from Heritage Lottery Fund investment. But if the bid was refused, then the county council doesn't have £10m to spend on the gardens."

Graham Mansey, secretary of the Friends of Elvaston, said, "At the meeting with the HLF, which the Friends hosted some months ago, we were told that HLF funding could not be used to benefit a private company in this way and that DCC's application would not be supported on this basis. As DCC must have been aware of these rules it is difficult to comprehend what has led it to persist with this course of action. It also calls into question the fact that the County Council, knowing that this was the case, went ahead and spent £25,000 of Council taxpayer's money on the Lanarca survey."

Mr Mansey added, "What should happen now is that the general public should be allowed to say whether it wants to dispose of its 325 acre Country Park to a private real estate company, or should it be kept in public ownership and properly restored for the benefit of the whole community and the nation. This question is fundamental to the entire issue surrounding the Estate and must be answered and that answer acted upon by the DCC. The consultation should be carried out independently to avoid any more 'mistakes' by the County Council in interpreting its own results." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jan/06)

When will the so-called friends of Elvaston Castle realise that they are wrong? I believe that the council has decided on the best course of action for Elvaston Castle. Allowing a private investor to lease and pay for all the repairs and upkeep of the castle means that it will still be standing in 100 years instead of being another Derbyshire ruin. Having been inside the castle recently, I was shocked to see how much immediate repair was needed and how such a once-beautiful building could be left to rot. If the "friends" do stop the development, are they prepared to use their own cash for repairs? I certainly oppose my council tax being squandered. Jane Agutter

Jane Agutter's belief that allowing a private investor into the equation will cure all the estate's ills is misguided. If the estate becomes "yet another Derbyshire ruin", it will be directly due to the actions of Derbyshire County Council. The people don't want it sold to private enterprise and they do not want the council's lack of will in trying to find an alternative. There are dozens of estates similar to Elvaston which are run by local authorities with great success, revenue earners which provide jobs and facilities for local people and tourists alike, while paying for the restoration and upkeep of important historical buildings.

Ms Agutter's view that allowing in a private investor means that the building will still be standing in 100 years' time may be true but it will not be for the benefit of the community and will also mean the loss of a 325-acre country park. The fact that she is shocked by the state of the interior is surprising, as Councillor Bob Janes has stated that the building is not being allowed to fall into disrepair. If Ms Agutter objects to her council tax being squandered, I suggest she seeks answers from the council, which has spent thousands of pounds of public money pursuing a course of action which almost the entire community is against. Graham Mansey, Friends of Elvaston

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