OFFICIAL ACTS OF CORPORATE VANDALISM
By Rifleman

Here is even more evidence of the terrible and criminal neglect of the museum artefacts and the buildings at Elvaston Castle by the Derbyshire County Council. View for yourself these pictures which constitute a NATIONAL scandal. A rare Fordson tractor with iron gripper lugs welded to the rear wheels, trailers and machinery from a golden age of agriculture in this country, just rotting and rusting away, in the same plight as the country itself, being run, as it is, by people of similar intellectual ability as those responsible for the dereliction of this beautiful place.

Look at the Moorish Temple. One of the ornately carved facia boards under the eaves is falling down, stonework at the side has been broken by vandals. The wrought-iron balcony is rusting away for lack of paint. There is a crack in the keystone above the door, just awaiting the frosts to cause permanent damage. We have been told that Councillor Bob Janes told members of the Friends of Elvaston committee at a meeting that, "there is nothing of any great value," when referring to the tractors and implements at Elvaston. Obviously, they are of no great value to him. Look at the photos, see if you have any faith in the judgement of officials who spout such rubbish as this.

The criminals responsible have sat in their hilltop hideaway in Matlock, draining us of taxes which supposedly paid for the upkeep of the County and all its affairs. Where has the money gone? Does Derbyshire County Council seriously expect us to believe that they spend £500,000 a year on the running and upkeep of Elvaston Castle? There could be some serious errors in their arithmetic in this respect. Time will (most definitely) tell.

The truth of the matter is there for all to see. It is the total contempt which the County Council displays for the people of Derby and the Shire, for the country and its heritage. All that the officers and County Councillors who are directly involved in this disgusting case are concerned about is themselves, their jobs, their fat and undeserved salaries, and, most of all it seems, their giant egos, emphasised by the contemptuous way that they brush aside or ignore everything that those who care for the estate want to see there.

Everything points towards deliberate and planned neglect to enable the Council to sell off the place to the highest bidder. A better idea would be to sell off Smedley's Hydro and get rid of the monsters at Matlock who have perpetrated such crimes against ordinary people.

The buildings which are falling apart at Elvaston Castle are GRADE 2 listed, in the case of the Castle itself GRADE 2* listed which means that it is of special interest. The County Council is legally obliged to keep these graded buildings wind and weather proof. Look at the picture of the roof of part of the old (Grade 2 Listed) Working Farm Museum, which the County Council claims it closed in 2001 due to 'falling attendance', see for yourselves if they are upholding the law with regard to listed buildings. Now the roof of this building has collapsed.

Every building, every facet, every single part of this once magnificent estate is falling apart at the seams under the stewardship of this despicable County Council. How can they claim to spend £500,000 a year? This preposterous claim smacks of nothing more than a conjuring trick, a deception of the first order, practised on the public at large by people who are anxious to hide the truth from us. That is because the truth is this - the extent of their neglect is so enormous as to be beyond belief. The truth will out, however. Whether it be sooner (which might well be the case!) or later, we will be waiting. Then it will be the turn of the general public, not the County Council, to give their collective verdict.

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