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DON’T
BE CONNED BY WEBSITE!
The Friends of Elvaston are forced to issue a
notice which disassociates us from any website, document,
or notice which links the Friends of Elvaston with the
Elvaston Castle Estate Trust.
Whilst the Friends was originally formed as a
sub-committee of the Elvaston Castle Estate Trust, we
later became a stand alone group, having fallen out with
the Trust over how to carry out the rescue of the
Elvaston Castle Estate from its decline at the hands of
the Derbyshire County Council (DCC). The Trust believed
that the best way forwards was to engage with privately
funded business backers to the extent that there was little difference
to what was planned by either them or Highgate Sanctuary. It is the
scale of involvement which amounts to completely taking over which is
what we
fundamentally and most strongly disagree with.
The Friends has maintained that the way
forwards should be to retain the Estate in public
ownership in its entirety and does not support any
private, profit motivated initiatives for Elvaston Castle
Country Park which means the signing away of any part of the Estate.
This does not mean that we would discourage all forms of private
investment. There are ways of working harmoniously which can be
beneficial to all. We believe that solutions can be
found without the need to sign away any part of the
Estate to profiteers, which is all that is happening at present.
When the Friends took legal action against
the DCC, in the form of a judicial review application,
(supported by you, the general public, to the tune of
£2000), the Elvaston Castle Estate Trust refused to back
the Friends’ action in case we lost and the Trustees
of the Elvaston Castle Estate Trust became liable for
costs sought by the DCC. As the Committee of the Friends
had taken this risk in the name of justice for the
community, we thought it incumbent upon the Trust to
follow suit. However, this was not to be, and in an
attempt to remove itself from the equation the Trust
disbanded at its AGM on January 27th, 2006.
However, Karen Sims Neighbour, who was its
Chief Executive, has left the Elvaston Castle Estate
Trust website up on the internet, containing not only way
out-of-date information regarding efforts to prevent the
DCC from disposing of the Elvaston Castle Estate, but,
inaccurate and out-of-date information on the Friends of
Elvaston, including an enrolment form for the Friends.
We would like to make it clear that anyone
who has filled in this form thinking that they are
joining the Friends of Elvaston has been duped. Further,
the Friends is represented as supporting a bid for
Elvaston Castle by the Elvaston Castle Estate Trust which
uses private business backing to do so, (To take the Estate over, not to
enter into any agreement on renting any space in it!).
Not only is this a total and calculated lie,
we consider this action by Ms Sims Neighbour and her
backers to be inflammatory. We requested that she remove
all references to the Friends of Elvaston from her
website back in January, a request that was independently
made to both her and the webmaster but has been ignored.
We are seeking legal advice on the matter, which we take
to be an attempt to discredit or weaken the Friends of
Elvaston in our rightful battle to retain the Estate in
public ownership. The people that oppose this and seek to
elbow the community aside by any means, including private
business backing, can only be involved for personal gain,
something which is anathema to the Friends of Elvaston.
Anyone who wishes to join the Friends can do
so via email through our official website here at;
info@friendsofelvaston.co.uk
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