ELVASTON CASTLE

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I have been opposed to the disposal of a publicly-owned asset, Elvaston Castle and country park, by Derbyshire County Council since 1999. If Highgate Sanctuary is successful in privatising the Elvaston estate in order to accommodate their golf course, it will mean the destruction of a mature nature reserve, where thousands of pounds have been spent over the years to encourage wildlife, including protected species. Recently, more thousands were spent building a bridge so that disabled people could enjoy the reserve.

Adjacent to the nature reserve, a wildlife haven will be destroyed. A wildflower meadow will be destroyed which is host to birds, insects, butterflies and moths and a host of other wildlife, all contributing to the biodiversity of the area. This is not even taking into account the sheer pleasure that the wildflower meadow gives to visitors to the country park. An international standard golf course can cover about 165 acres, which require a colossal amount of water a day to irrigate the playing surfaces. This could also have an adverse effect on the water supply; fertiliser will be used which will ultimately reach the water table and affect the ecology of the lake and the River Derwent.

A site where evidence of archaeological importance has been found will be lost to a golf course, and a floodlit driving range will be sited close to housing. The historic core garden must be protected from overuse; this is a condition of the Heritage Lottery funding. It means that 185 acres of the country park will be fenced off to the public. Derbyshire County Council is match-funding the bid for Heritage Lottery money. This means millions of pounds of taxpayers' money being spent to benefit a private company for the restoration of the gardens.

Destroying the appearance of the Grade II-listed castle building with extensions to accommodate hotel, gymnasium, swimming pool and conference facilities and whatever else they intend to offer their guests, goes against the Derby and Derbyshire Joint Structure Plan, co-signed by the councils in 2001, as does the plan for the golf course. At a recent meeting, a councillor stated that the figure of £10 could be levied as a daily car parking fee. I will continue to fight for truth, community and the Elvaston Castle estate. Alexander Devlin

Visitors to the gardens at historic Elvaston Castle could be charged under future plans for the site, although the areas which are open to the public will remain "largely" the same. According to Councillor Bob Janes, Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for community services and chairman of the Elvaston Castle Working Party, "just about everything that is currently open to the public will still be open to the public." Cllr Janes said, "Currently, about 50 to 60% of the total area of the country park, which includes the historic core garden, the walled garden, the caravan club, the cricket club, the stables, the showground and the castle itself, is accessible to the public. Access will not be significantly reduced."

One area will no longer have public access, at the moment visitors can go right up to the castle walls but when it is a hotel the area directly around the building will be for guests only. Cllr Janes said that taxpayers could not be expected to foot the £3m repair bill and £500,000 annual running costs, and that leasing to a private partner was the only viable option. He added that the county council planned to submit a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the formal, historic core gardens, which cover 185 acres of the site. He said, "At their peak, they were superb but they have deteriorated. They're of European importance but to restore them would probably cost £10m." He added there would probably be an admission charge to cover the cost of maintaining the gardens, but it would be as "cheap as we could make it."

National Trust property Kedleston Hall charges visitors £2.60 for the park and garden only. If the proposal is given the go-ahead by the full council, a lengthy planning process would follow before any work could start. Cllr Janes said it was unlikely that outline proposals for the hotel and golf course would be finalised before spring, 2005. Tanya Spilsbury, of Highgate Sanctuary, said, "It has got to be viable but we want to maintain the public nature of it." But Sally Shenton, of Derby Road, Borrowash, who belongs to the Friends of Elvaston Castle, which has a petition of 35,000 signatures calling for the home to remain in the community, said, "It should be left for the people the way it is. The council should be restoring it." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

A UK-based international business, has been negotiating with Elvaston Castle Estate Trust (ECET) to provide £10m to save Elvaston Castle and preserve it for Derbyshire people. However, the council said the deadline for making a bid passed back in July, 2003, and they are unable to accept any more. As a result the backer and the trust have been unable to make a formal bid for the property.

Members of the Friends of Elvaston Castle Action Group claim that artefacts are being put into skips and taken away by scrap metal dealers rather than being kept and restored. FOE believe that many of the items that are being scrapped are pieces of old agricultural machinery which have an important social history value. They also believe that a flax frame, which was used as part of a linen-making process, has gone missing. Alex Devlin, chairman of the Friends, said, "The estate was self-sufficient and made its own linen. This frame is a piece of social history and should be kept for future generations. All the agricultural machinery and other items that are being put in skips should be kept rather than scrapped."

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire County Council said that the flax frame had not been removed and that the authority had been working for five years to log the 12,000 items from the estate museum and planned to return them to their owners or place them in other museums. She added, "We're doing everything we can to ensure items are retrieved and, where possible saved, but it's a sad fact that, in some cases, the objects might be too badly fire-damaged. Staff are photographing and listing every piece and, where possible, tracing owners." She said the council had been told by the Museums Association that the way it had handled the collection "far exceeds its ethical standards". Interestingly, the skip being used has "DO NOT USE" clearly written on it!