THE FRIENDS OF ELVASTON COMMENT

The Friends of Elvaston wish to comment on recent articles in the Derby Evening Telegraph.

According to Tanya Spilsbury a “small group of scaremongers” oppose Derbyshire County Council’s plans to dispose of the public open space which is Elvaston Castle Country Park, granted to the people by Act of Parliament. In fact, 65,000 people signed a petition against the disposal in the space of a few weeks. The Friends of Elvaston have a membership of thousands of people, and have the support not only of the local community, but also both nationally and internationally. One of the rejected bidders was The Honourable William Stanhope, grandson of the present Earl of Harrington, who now runs a comparable estate in Scotland. He has given the Friends of Elvaston his whole-hearted support and totally opposes any new build for a hotel scheme.

Derbyshire County Council’s way forward is to totally ignore public opinion and announce in the Derby Evening Telegraph Public Notices section (Wed 27/07/05), its intention to dispose of Elvaston Castle Country Park. (Notice)

On the 13th of July, under the title ‘The Battle For Elvaston Castle’, Rachael McCormack, director of consultants Lanarca Ltd., engaged by Derbyshire County Council to carry out the consultation programme for its £10 million application for the Gardens restoration Heritage lottery funding stated that the consultation was in respect of the Historic Core Gardens only. To apply for lottery funding Derbyshire County Council will have to submit, on behalf of Highgate Sanctuary Ltd., an Holistic Plan for the entire Estate, including the Castle. £35,000 of public money was spent in having this Plan drawn up, so it is reasonable to assume the Holistic Plan would have been presented for public consultation, but this is not the case. We have to ask the question, why not?

For the last 5 years Derbyshire County Council has claimed that it could not afford the estimated £3 million restoration of the Castle. Councillor Bob Janes, Chair of the Elvaston Castle Estate Working Party, announced that the Castle was “in a sound, watertight condition and is not being allowed to fall into disrepair”, so people must form their own opinion on the Council’s claim of £3 million in restoration costs. Recently, Derbyshire County Council has admitted that the ingress of rainwater which has been cascading through Lady Harrington’s bedroom ceiling for a number of years, causing damage to the ceiling and the fabric of the bedroom walls and floors was caused by a blocked gutter in which moss and debris had been allowed to accumulate and which had been ignored by the County Council.

On its website, Lanarca declares that Derbyshire County Council had ‘identified a significant sum of matched funding’ to access the £7.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, but that if the bid fails, the County Council will still commit this public money to Highgate Sanctuary Ltd., a private real estate development company.

In Tanya Spilsbury’s letter to Opinions (Letter), she states that; “Highgate Sanctuary would not have any financial benefit from a successful grant application, and, by contrast, we will be committing the majority of match-funding ourselves to the Gardens project”. Why would a commercial company commit millions of pounds to a project in which it would receive no financial benefit? Also, why is there confusion between Derbyshire County Council and Highgate Sanctuary about who is to provide the matched-funding?

It is significant that Mrs. Spilsbury did not mention the loss of the Nature Reserve, Wildlife Haven, the Wildflower Meadow, or the potential damage to the ecology of the lake and the river system.

Further, a sustainable future has to be secured for the Estate. According to Lanarca, access to the Park and Gardens will be free. The car parking fees will contribute towards the costs of maintenance for the Gardens and Park and the provision of associated facilities. If car parking fees are increased by up to £10 per car, as stated by Councillor Harrison, and this has the effect of discouraging visitors by car, creating a loss of revenue, how is this sustainable? Tanya Spilsbury made no comment about the golf course or hotel making any financial contribution to the maintenance of the Estate.

It should not rest with the Friends of Elvaston alone to raise these questions. There are individuals and organisations who are charged with the responsibility to protect the health and well being of the general public through free and open access to their heritage by representing their best interests, with particular regard to the benefits of open space and the opportunities to the entire community that the Estate could offer, run by a community trust.

It is time these same individuals and organisations took an active interest on this issue. In the Derby Evening Telegraph of July 14th, in Public Notices, there was a very interesting item, entitled, ‘Derby and Derbyshire Local Access Forum’. An extract from this notice reads;

‘This Forum provides the two authorities with advice on how best to improve access for open air recreation, to land within both Derby City and the County of Derbyshire’.

The Friends of Elvaston have in their possession a letter from Derby City Councillor Maurice Burgess, dated 10/12/04, whilst he was the Leader of the Council, where he clearly states;

“The City Council are not willing to get involved with Derbyshire County Council in respect of the Elvaston Castle Country park issue”.

It might be helpful to the community if Councillor Burgess and his colleagues put their names down to become members of the Forum, then they could become aware of some of their responsibilities to the people of Derby.

Now we have a new leadership the City has a wonderful opportunity with the £2.1 million awarded from the Safer, Stronger Communities Fund, to improve open spaces in Derby. This money should be used to rescue Elvaston for the community.

Graham Mansey, on behalf of the Friends of Elvaston.