ELVASTON CASTLE - COMPLAINT TO THE COMMISSION FOR RACIAL EQUALITY By The Friends of Elvaston Castle

The Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Nick Hodgson has admitted to the CRE that the Council has failed to carry out a Racial Equality Impact Assessment, prior to making the decision to dispose of Elvaston Castle Country Park. Therefore, the Council is guilty of contravening its statutory duties under the Race Relations Act and will have to now properly seek the views of the Black and Minority Ethnic groups from within the community in order to fend off possible legal action that it could face if it does not do so.

Mr Hodgson’s statement that “The report would be shared with the Commission and a decision would then be made on whether any further consultation was needed”, makes it seem as though this is some kind of joint arrangement for the gathering of statistics, which it clearly is not. This is a serious breach of protocol and the Council must now seek to put matters right. Part of this repair work involves the fact that at the full Council meeting this September, the failure to carry out a REIA and what this involves has to be explained to the members, and the fact that the Council must consult with the Friends in an attempt to resolve the situation.

We have made it clear that a consultant nominated by the Friends of Elvaston and not the County Council should be used for the consultation, in the interests of transparency and fairness and the CRE has pointed out that his experience could be an added resource and may seem non-partisan and acceptable to the community.

Mr Hodgson is also quoted as saying that letters were sent to ethnic minority groups as part of its public consultation but no responses were received. He said, “We took that to mean they were not concerned about the development or they were happy with the plans.”

This is typical County Council ‘spin’ on the matter, similar to that where it claims to have carried out several public consultations over Elvaston, which it has done, omitting, however, to state the actual truth of the outcome of them, namely that the community has voted overwhelmingly against the disposal in every one of them. To our knowledge, only four letters were sent out. This was only a survey of usage and nothing to do with a REIA, or the disposal of the Park. These were only sent out after we had made our complaint and when these proceedings were well under way. There were 64 ethnic minorities in Derby at the time (This has now risen to over 70).

Furthermore, the Friends made the complaint after having been advised to do so by the Local Government Ombudsman, to whom we had originally complained about the Council’s refusal to acknowledge the community’s rejection of its proposals. The Ombudsman advised the Friends that our complaint must be made through the Council’s own internal complaints procedure, a device which the Council used to effectively block our complaint by disputing it for 11 months before finally rejecting it. It was only then that we took our complaint to the CRE and were vindicated when the CRE upheld it.

We have to state publicly that, as a legitimate community group, properly constituted and with a large membership, our combined efforts to protect the priceless public asset which is Elvaston Castle Country Park has met with much hostility from the County Council, because we stand in the way of the Council’s plans to dispose of it. This will not deter us, nor sway us from our task, namely to save the Elvaston Estate from disposal and destruction, once and for all.

As a footnote, a Derby Evening Telegraph poll, asking whether Elvaston Castle Country Park should be turned into a hotel and golf course, is presently (August 29) running at 67.2% against the proposals, 32.8% in favour. The Friends own website poll, which has been running for considerably longer, is presently logged at 95.81% against, 4.19% in favour.

The Friends of Elvaston Castle reported Derbyshire County Council to the Commission for Racial Equality over its bid to turn the 200-acre estate into a hotel complex. The group told the CRE the council had not spoken with minority groups about the castle developments. The commission decided that it needed to check whether the Friends had grounds for their comment. The council commissioned an equality assessor to look into the complaint, and he has now said the authority failed to speak specifically to minority ethnic and religious groups and the disabled about its proposals.

The assessor said the council should specifically include these groups in future discussions. Friends member Graham Mansey, of Kirkleys Avenue, Spondon, said his group felt vindicated by the assessment. He added, "The Commission for Racial Equality pointed out to Derbyshire County Council that documents in its possession suggested most ethnic minority groups had not been consulted." County council chief executive Nick Hodgson said the expert's findings did not mean the council's consultation had been poorly-run.

He said people would get a chance to say what they thought about detailed proposals for the site when the commissioned developer, Highgate Sanctuary, submitted a planning application. Mr Hodgson said, "The assessor isn't saying we need to do the consultations again. He was generally complimentary about our work. We just need to ensure we speak specifically to minority groups in the future. I will be setting up a meeting between ourselves, Derby Racial Equality Council, black and ethnic minority groups and the Friends in the new year." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Dec/07)