THE DEADLINE HAS NOW PASSED!

NOTICE OF DISPOSAL

Q. How much is the Elvaston Castle lease?
A. Don’t Know!

The Derbyshire County Council (DCC), has released the figures for the number of public responses to its Final Disposal notice regarding Elvaston Estate. In the Derby Evening Telegraph, Wednesday May 17th, it is reported that when the deadline for protests ended last Friday, it had received 232 responses, of which 228 were against (the disposal) and four in favour. A spokeswoman said that a further 15 responses were received after the deadline, but they would be recorded.

The responses will go to the Elvaston Castle Working Party, who will then make a recommendation to the Council's Cabinet.

The original  notice was published in the media on Thursday, April 6^th but did not declare clearly what the actual amount to be paid to DCC for the lease to Highgate Sanctuary will be. See here

This is the second such notice, the Friends judicial review application (which was funded by public appeal), forced a further consultation from the DCC. Even though we found it to be both biased and inaccurate it fulfilled the legal requirement stipulated by the judge and so by this means the judicial review was ended. To have gone to court under these circumstances would have left the Friends open to substantial costs and damages. Following this Final Consultation, the DCC again altered its plans, declaring that it had been decided to separate the lease, splitting the Core Gardens from the deal and 'just' leasing the Castle and the section of the Park not open to the public (ie., the land leased out for grazing, which we see no reason for keeping the public out of, and which is still Parkland), to Highgate Sanctuary.

This would not alter the end result one jot, it still means the loss of the House and more than half of the Parkland, with the area that is left open to the public criss-crossed with roads and traffic, and the character of the Castle and Parkland spoilt forever. The DCC already has, by its own admission, already got an area which covers around half of the Park closed off to the public. It is proposing a lease deal which will allow roads to be built through the remaining area that IS open to the public. How can such proposals possibly mean that the community will gain any benefit from the sale of a 150 year lease of such priceless public open space? This is one of the most baffling aspects of the whole deal. Answers on a postage stamp, if you have any!

However, if the DCC presses on with plans to lease the Castle and the entire Park outside the Core Gardens to Highgate Sanctuary, for a hotel and golf course, for 150 years, despite massive public opposition, then the Friends of Elvaston will continue to oppose the deal, as we believe it to be neither necessary or wanted, and, far from being a solution to the problem of funding the restoration and upkeep of the Estate, will create a quagmire of problems and dissent, with the Park users under siege from a hotchpotch development, and the Castle and outbuildings irrevocably ruined.

Naturally, we will have to wait and see whether  the Derbyshire County Council alters its plans in response to what we know has been a large public protest, following the publication of the final disposal notice. We may all be pleasantly surprised! we await the DCC's response with interest.

The Friends of Elvaston continues to oppose the present plans and will do everything possible to retain the Estate in public ownership. The evidence is that tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of residents oppose the plans and their wishes are being ignored for what amounts to the loss of the Estate. We believe that the small number that do support the scheme are not in possession of the full facts because the DCC has not been open with the information it has given out. This has lead to confusion over what has already happened. The Estate is still in public ownership at present and nothing has been signed. Show your opposition to the proposals now.

In the long run we must win the battle for Elvaston. To lose such a valuable public open space would be a backward and irreversible step for the entire community. Such a thing must not be allowed to happen. We have had, and continue to have, some well respected support. We must all rally ourselves once more at this present time.

© friendsofelvaston.co.uk. The content on this site is published without prejudice.