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TIME
AND TIDE
As time passes and the uncertainty of the
situation at Elvaston Castle Country Park continues, the
community which uses the Park cannot help but view its
general decline, brought about by the sledge hammer
tactics of a relatively small number of politicians and
senior council officers whose blinkered intransigence
threatens irreparable loss and/or damage to it.
Committee members of the Friends of Elvaston
have recently attended meetings of the Elvaston Parish
Council, whose minutes from a meeting last year, in
response to the County Council’s Final Public
Consultation, stated;
"It
was agreed that the Council's response to Derbyshire
County Council's Final Public Consultation should:-
1)
voice opposition to the withholding of public access
to any part of the site now under review;
2) express concerns regarding the
fragmented lay-out of the proposed golf course and
the prospect of a floodlit golf driving range being
part of the plans;
3) insist that the lease term be
kept short to retain the prospect of the facility
being returned to full public ownership;
4) recommend that the terms of
reference of the Trust created to manage the garden
and grounds should require regular consultation with
local interest groups including the Parish
Council."
These fine and sensible proposals now sound
somewhat hollow however, when compared to some responses
from the Parish Council Meeting of Monday, May 14, where,
whilst discussing the close proximity to the Castle of an
ongoing dedicated footpath application by the Friends of
Elvaston, more than one councillor stated that;
“Hotel
users and guests will not want the public pressing
its little noses up to the windows whilst they are
dining.”
This astonishing attitude proves that there
is much still to be done in educating those who may have
received your vote on their ballot papers that it might
be your little noses they are sarcastically talking
about.
It also illustrates the fact that so far, the
tens of thousands of voices dissenting against the
disposal are still being ignored.
At Monday’s meeting, a County
Councillor, in answer to our question, ‘If you had
been aware that land taken for the disposal DID involve
the loss of public open space, used and enjoyed by the
people, would you still have voted in favour of the
lease, stated;
“If
it only meant a small tranch of land and it was
essential for this to ensure the success of the
project, then the answer would be yes. If, however,
it meant a large proportion, then the answer would be
no.”
Another councillor was unclear as to how much
land was being disposed of, or for how long.
Let us be clear then, the ‘small tranch’
of the Park which County Councillors voted in favour of
disposing of is 150 acres (almost half of the (now) 315
acres), at the full County Council meeting of November 3,
2004.
Councillors who spoke of the public ‘pressing
their little noses up to the windows of the Castle’
something which a former Parish Council leader at the
meeting spoke of as ‘conjuring up a picture of
Dickensian times, with little children looking in’,
are showing attitudes which do not match those of the
community.
It is quite clear from these events that many
of those who are making the decisions which affect all of
us are totally out-of-touch with reality when considering
what the majority wants and are either not prepared to
listen, or are deliberately ignoring the facts. Claiming
that a golf country club and massive commercial
investment is the only way to prevent the demise of the
Castle and Country Park is both untrue and unimaginative,
(especially considering current Government thinking), it
is also somewhat akin to selling deckchairs on the
Titanic.
The Friends of Elvaston has clear policies
and ideas on sensible ways forward for the Estate, some
of it provided by the community whose views are being
ignored by their political representatives.
We will continue to chant the same mantra;
The Estate should be managed and run by a not-for-profit
trust, working in conjunction with and represented by all
community and stakeholder groups, the Derbyshire County
Council, Derby City Council, South Derbyshire District
Council and all the parish councils. In this way we would
be able to avoid the catastrophic consequences that the
present attempted land-snatch threatens to bring.
Councillors are you listening?
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