HIGHGATE SANCTUARY = NORSEMAN HOLDINGS
By Excalibur

The ongoing attempt by Derbyshire County Council to steal Elvaston Castle and Estate from the people has now plumbed new depths. The County Council announced Highgate Sanctuary as their long awaited 'preferred bidder'. In a cynical and pathetic attempt at subterfuge they named Highgate Sanctuary (sic) as the company to whom they would be granting the 'lease' to Elvaston Castle and the Estate, allowing the Castle to be turned into a hotel and part of the Park to be turned into an eighteen hole golf course.

Many people wondered how a company registered at Companies House two years ago as a seller and developer of real estate, and having only £1000 of assets and no trading experience, could be considered as a fit and proper choice for such a monumental task. That is, until they are made aware that Tanya Spilsbury, Co-Director of Highgate Sanctuary with her husband, both registered as such for the sum of £1 each, is the daughter of Brian Ashby, chairman of Norseman Holdings, a real estate seller and developer whose company was rejected in a previous round of bidding. He wanted to turn the Castle into a hotel and build not one but two golf courses.

So confident are they that the deal is done and dusted that Tanya Spilsbury went on Radio Derby and announced that Highgate Sanctuary would be applying for a Heritage Lottery Grant for the core gardens at the Castle, and that 'they' would be working closely with the Royal Horticultural Society on the project. This is all LIES!

Firstly, the grant money (£8 million) has been on the table for some time to renovate the core gardens, but the powers that be won't release it until the outcome of the see-sawing becomes clear. Secondly, the grant is not available to PRIVATE COMPANIES, it can only go to trusts and the like. The County Council is temporarily hanging on to the gardens so that it can form a trust of it's own and claim the £8 million. Only then will it 'extend' the lease area of the hotel to include the gardens. Thirdly, our spy at the Royal Horticultural Society tells us that there is definitely the whiff of manure to the story that Highgate is working closely with them to revamp the core gardens.

In fact, apparently, this is the "first they've heard of it". Tanya also stated that they would keep 90% of the estate open to the public. This means that 10% will be permanently closed! No sale? I think differently. Take into account that at the moment only 60% of the land is opened up and the scale of the loss becomes much clearer. After this scam goes through we will have only half of the park (with no Castle!) left. That is, until they decide they want some more.

Derbyshire County Council's Elvaston Castle Estate Working Party, led by Councillor Bob Janes, are recommending the sale/lease (99 years!) to the cabinet in October 2004. In November it goes before the full council for the sale to be rubber stamped. There is to be NO PUBLIC CONSULTATION on the sale, perhaps Derbyshire County Council are mindful of the last time they asked the public and received a firm NO!

The planned 'championship golf course' also provides us with many posers. As it is planned right next to the nature reserve, what will happen to the nitrogen and fertilisers drained from the greens? They can only go into the drainage ditches which surround the reserve, and run into it's lake areas. What about the loss of habitat to all the birds, insects and wild flowers? what about the poisoning of the water?

One more question for these sticky fingered developers and also for the County Council, for Councillor Janes and his colleagues. If Highgate Sanctuary's offer has yet to be put before the full council, and nothing has yet been decided, and the proposals have yet to go before the planning committee, why have the contractors' 'servicing' the park at the moment been ordered to build a road through to the pump house from the stable block, through the field where the re-enactments are held?

If anyone is in doubt that the County Council are intending to steamroller their way through our rights and opinions, a 35,000 signature petition, or the iron-will of the people, check out the large pile of road aggregate they have hidden behind the old working farm museum. I have been asked to deliver a message;

"We have to tell you here and now that YOU WILL NOT WIN! Start packing your bags and clearing your desks, we are on your trail. If you do not leave us alone, we will make you fight every step of the way - this will be a scorched earth policy, no one will win, least of all the County Council and definitely not Norseman Sanctuary."