THE WRECKED AND RUINED ARTEFACTS AT ELVASTON CASTLE By Rifleman

'Derbyshire County Council is an 'Excellent' council working to improve the lives of local people by delivering high quality services'. This is one of the empty slogans that are delivered by the totally useless and long past their sell-by-date Derbyshire County Council. The sooner these buffoons are thrown out of office by the seats of their pants, the better it will be for ALL the people of Derbyshire, no matter what side of the political fence they come from.

How can such corporate vandalism as that practiced by the Derbyshire County Council, accompanied by a sustained and determined attempt to steal Elvaston Castle Country Park from the people who own and cherish it, you and I, be allowed to happen? Cowardice and political clap-trap from the so called Councillors in the City of Derby, combined with wholesale plunder from builders and developers who seem to have crawled from out of the footings on all sides. Talk about fiddling whilst Rome burns!

Now is the time to make your voices heard, it will be of very little use speaking to a local councillor in Derby, or Derbyshire, or even an MP. They have all sat on the fence for the last five years whilst Elvaston is carved up by the big-boys who claim to be caring, cultured people whose one aim is to improve the local environment on our behalf. The only people they are helping is themselves. They have their feet in the troughs and their fingers in the till. If YOU, yes, YOU, the public stand around in a bewildered state for too much longer, they will achieve all they are seeking.

Make no mistake, the developers and their quislings at the County Council are beavering away with a will, far harder than they ever did in running the Park. Of course, it has been deliberately run down, just awaiting the moment when they could use the condition into which they have rendered it as an excuse for getting rid of it! Now, they are trying to tie up any loose ends and sweep any opposition under the carpet. Only recently, a woman in a pin-striped suit was on the Park, telling the staff that "These people (you and I, and the people taking advantage of the autumn sunshine on the Park) won't be allowed to be here when we take over!"

Start shouting now. Spread the word, join the opposition, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who stand against what is happening. Make your voices heard. By ignoring the will of the people, the stupid and the ignorant members of Derbyshire County Council will find they have waded in too far, and are out of their depth. The people who will be by far the biggest losers however, and are about to reap the whirlwind, are all the officers, executives, freeloaders and councillors on DERBY CITY COUNCIL, who think that they can sit back comfortably in office ignoring the problems that the protest movement has had, and get away with it. To those we say this; We know who you are. We have the evidence we need. Don't relax too much! Once we have stopped this fiasco from going ahead, we will be coming for you! Laugh if you wish! Who laughs last, laughs loudest.

In the meantime, view some more pictures from the Gallery of Shame. More pictures of the terrible and shameful degradation of agricultural artefacts of national importance, many of them given because the people who donated them thought that they were going to be cherished by the 'Excellent Council, working to improve the lives of local people!' view these, there will be more to follow.

This is the sort of terrible vandalism of which Jim Grevatte, Museum Development Officer for the East Midlands Museums Association, based at Leicester, (remember, this man is Museum Development Officer for this Region!) writes that he was; "satisfied that everything possible was being done to safeguard the collection and ensure future public access." Look at these latest pictures and weep! Also, you might just begin to wonder how Mr. Grevatte and his ilk find themselves in such a prestigious job!

View the Gallery