ELVASTON CASTLE

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Campaigners fighting plans to turn Elvaston Castle into a luxury hotel have produced a map to show where they fear a golf course planned for its park will be built. Tanya Spilsbury, managing director of Highgate Sanctuary, has refused to reveal where the golf course will be but that it could include part of a 35-acre nature reserve on the estate, which is open to the public. The reserve has not been included in the 185-acre section of the 325-acre site labelled "historic core gardens", which Derbyshire County Council and Highgate Sanctuary plan to restore and keep open to the public as part of a £10m Heritage Lottery Fund bid.

Under the terms of the lease and lottery funding, public access to the historic core gardens, as well as other parts of the estate including the lake and woodland, is protected. The cricket ground and the showground would also remain as they are. The rest of the land is either private or will be used for the golf course and new buildings. Golf courses vary in size. In Derbyshire they range from the 18-hole Mickleover golf course, in Uttoxeter Road, which is 98 acres, to Morley Hayes, in Main Road, Morley, which covers an area of 270 acres for an 18-hole and nine-hole course.

The Friends of Elvaston action group has combined local knowledge, studies of the land and information leaked to it from the county council to come up with its own design. It hopes that by highlighting the possibilities, Mrs Spilsbury would provide the public with her plans. Secretary Graham Mansey said, "We feel it's important for people to realise how much will be lost to the public. The area that we have marked for the clubhouse, driving range and car park is known as Clover Close. We believe that they will wish to bring a road down London Road Drive."

He added, "They can overcome the problem of the listed lodge gates by creating a new entrance nearby, the road will adjoin the existing road at the Golden Gates and turn left to the hotel. The reason that we believe they will want to locate the main buildings here is that it's the closest area which links with the village drain and sewage systems." Clive Ibbotson, secretary of the Derbyshire Union of Golf Clubs, added, "We welcome new golf courses in the county because it will hopefully increase the number of people who will play the game." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Councillor Bob Janes states, "Elvaston Castle and Country Park is not for sale." What Councillor Janes does not inform us is that the 99-year lease for the park and castle is for sale. After 99 years' ownership reverts to the people. This is a subtle play on words as the end result is exactly the same, loss of access to the castle and park. Property consultants FPD Savills issued a glossy brochure on behalf of Derbyshire County Council stating that the sale is Long Leasehold/Freehold. Under Aims and Objectives, it states, "Continued provision for public access as far as possible." This contradicts Councillor Janes' claims that "public access is not and never has been under threat."

He also says, "There will be no entry fee to walk in the park." There are public rights-of-way through the park, set in law, which cannot be taken away. So there is another play on words. Are we to be allowed to walk through but not in the parkland? Let us now establish where and what, exactly, the park is. Is it where we now walk and enjoy the area within the estate? I'm afraid not!

The wild-flower meadow is not part of the park. The fields where the horses graze are not part of the park. The fields and woods from the Golden Gates to the entrance at the A6 are not part of the park. The entire area, including that on the north side, adjacent to the lake, across to the Golden Gates, in the opposite direction from the former working farm museum, to the Old English Garden, is not parkland. This entire area is classed as the gardens.

So what, exactly, is the park, Councillor Janes? When the Derbyshire County Council's preferred bidder was announced as Highgate Sanctuary, the director of the company, Tanya Spilsbury, was interviewed on Radio Derby. She revealed that there would be loss of public access to the parkland. To create a top-class hotel in the castle building would totally destroy the internal fabric of this Grade II-listed historic house.

It does not surprise me that the leaseholder/freeholder would support a lottery funding bid to restore the gardens, as their hotel will be sitting in the middle of them, to be enjoyed by their exclusive clientele. To transform the stables into a craft centre and café would be criminal, ending all hope of reinstating horse riding facilities for disabled children and people with learning difficulties.

The destruction of the wild-flower meadow by the building of an 18-hole golf course would also remove a wildlife haven. Is yet another golf course of any real benefit to the community, or the environment? Why is Bob Janes giving out misinformation on this issue? The Elvaston Estate was bought jointly by the then Derby Borough Council, and Derbyshire County Council.

The park, created under the Countryside Act 1968, became the first country park in England. The scheme attracted a government grant of 75%. The estate was jointly funded by both councils until boundary changes, when it came under the guardianship of Derbyshire County Council.

In 1969, Harry Crossley, then the clerk to the county council, made the following statement, "Country parks are not designed solely to serve the locality in which they are situated and Elvaston will be of regional, indeed national, significance." Let Derbyshire County and Derby City Councils turn the castle over to a trust, raised from the community.

It should have a business approach to generating an income, but use those funds to restore and preserve the estate. On behalf of all the people who use Elvaston Castle and Country Park both now, and in the future, I ask Derby City Council to grasp this opportunity offered by Councillor Janes. Alexander Devlin