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Sat, 18 October 2008


Castle History

Friends Forward Plan

Galleries of Shame

Museum Mumbo Jumbo

Artifacts In Ruins

A Word to the Wise

Highgate Sanctuary-
Norseman Holdings

Comment

Notice Of Disposal

     


NEWS UPDATE

Bell TowerThere has been little activity on this site for some time, mainly due to the fact that Derbyshire County Council has made no further announcements about Elvaston Castle until recently, when a revealing letter from its Chief Executive was published in the Opinion page of the Derby Evening Telegraph (DET Opinion, 'No sale, no fees and no threat', Wednesday, June 17, 2009). In it, Nick Hodgson reveals something not previously publicly announced (except at one minority group meeting), when he discloses that the Council proposes to lease the ENTIRE Elvaston Estate to Highgate Sanctuary, but to then LEASE BACK the Gardens, according to the Council for the purposes of maintaining public access and for maintenance.

Mr. Hodgson also claims in his letter that 'Elvaston Castle is not for sale and public access is not and has never been under threat.' This is not the case because when the Council placed the Estate on the open property market in 1999 it was marketed as being either freehold or leasehold. Clearly, if it had been sold freehold then public access could have permanently disappeared at that point.

His comment that the Council has always been open and honest is therefore confounded by the facts of the matter.

The statement that there will be no entry fee to the Park makes no mention of the Gardens.

We know that the 'charitable trust' which he mentions that the Council is intending to set up is to be chosen from (to quote the Council in 2006);

a combination of recommendation/nomination/advertising for people with the appropriate skills/interest/proven ability with initial appointments/recommendations by the Council.

It is included in Council minutes that the developer would be represented on the trust.

We feel that this is irregular to say the least and begs the obvious question, why lease the Gardens out to the developer in the first place, surely it would have been less of a burden on the public purse to have left the Gardens out of the equation altogether?

Involving the developer in this way, in which it sits on the board of a charitable trust which administers the Gardens (having leased the Gardens back to the Council) and whereby public money is used to finance maintenance to those gardens seems an odd decision to make. Furthermore, it is questionable as to whether the public could then be excluded anyway, being as it would be public money financing the trust, so the Council's claim that leasing back the Gardens would ensure public access seems a little shallow in that respect. As well as this it means that the developer would become a major beneficiary of this arrangement, in that taxpayer's money would be guaranteeing that the hotel surroundings would be greatly enhancing its status. If it is prepared to go to these lengths to dispose of the Elvaston Estate, the Council's claim that it cannot afford to run the Estate has a hollow ring to it!

There is also the question of the 15 year 'no sale' clause in the public funding paid out by English Heritage. If there is no intention by the Council to dispose of the Estate and it merely has the intention of leasing it out for 150 years, why should English Heritage need to insert a 'no sale' clause of any duration? Mr. Hodgson claims that the Council would be happy to make it a 150 year clause. If that was really the case we do not think that it should have been too much trouble for a local authority such as Derbyshire County Council to have made the amendment - perhaps it could do so now? Fortunately for us, we are not holding our breath on the matter!

The new Conservative administration at Matlock now has the opportunity to reverse the damage caused by years of neglect (the minimum of a decade!) by its predecessors. It is unthinkable that a rapid U turn to the policy of disposing of Elvaston Castle Country Park could not now be initiated. Firstly, a new public consultation should take place, properly carried out, with all the FACTS clearly available. The Friends of Elvaston already knows what the public verdict will be. So does the Council. All we are asking for is openness and transparency, nothing more, nothing less, no lies, no trickery. If the public demands that the Estate is lost to a hotel and golfing complex to the exclusion of all other users then we will accept that decision and stand down our campaign... Otherwise, we will continue the fight, for as long as it takes.

Furthermore, and we don't know how to say this any more clearly, Mr. Hodgson's statement that the Council is NOT disposing of Elvaston Castle and Country Park, that it is NOT for sale and that public access is NOT and has never been under threat (his emphasis!) is merely juggling with words. A 150 year lease to a private real estate development company, or any other company come to that matter, means that no one from the community, the Council, or anyone else with a current interest will be around to measure the outcome of what the disposal means in real terms. Elvaston Castle and Country Park could well have disappeared altogether and those of us who use and enjoy it now and who don't want to see it drastically altered or to disappear from public use most certainly will have done.


Please make a note of our new meeting venue for the second Wednesday in every month. We will now be meeting at the Moon Hotel, Station Road, Spondon, in the lounge, at 7:30pm. Anyone who is interested in the situation with Elvaston Castle and the work of the Friends of Elvaston is welcome to come and talk to us, ask questions, put forward any (constructive) suggestions they may have. Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 13th. We look forward to meeting you there.


The Friends FLAG Group (Friends League of Affiliated Groups), currently stands at 109 named groups, organisations and associations which completely support the Friends campaign to keep Elvaston Castle Country Park in public ownership and to prevent it from being turned into an hotel and golfing complex at the hands of developers and a County Council which appears disinterested in the views and opinions of the Park's many stakeholders. 

Countless numbers of people enjoy the Estate and it isn't just used for recreation and education by those who enjoy good health, but also by those who care for the less able bodied, people who are mentally or physically disabled, or recovering from serious illness. Many of these unfortunate people are taken to Elvaston Castle and its peaceful and welcoming surroundings in order to aid their recovery, and to give them and the people caring for them some much needed respite from normal daily routine.

We can only make a plea for those ultimately charged with the care of Elvaston Castle Country Park to listen to the community, take heed of what that community has to say. Some of our detractors (those with a vested interest), would have people believe that the Friends of Elvaston is a campaign of misinformation led by a small, out of touch group which is helping to prevent Elvaston Castle from being rescued from decay. Nothing could be further from the truth and the dozens of testimonials from all the organisations which support the Friends campaign proves that very few are now being fooled by such vindictive propaganda and that such base lies and deceptions being preached about what a glowing future the current disposal scheme means for the Park are falling on the stony ground on which they belong.   

The fact of the matter is that (so far), 109 groups, organisations and associations, from right across society, are backing the campaign of the Friends of Elvaston. This is something which cannot, should not be ignored. Most are incensed by the actions of Derbyshire County Council and what it is attempting to do. It is not too late to reverse the disposal plans and to secure a sustainable future for Elvaston Castle which is agreed by ALL its users and these plans should not include anything to do with hotels and golf courses.


We would like to let everyone know that a website previously left hanging in cyberspace, containing out of date information and  references to the campaign by the Friends of Elvaston with which we did not agree and which we made every effort to have removed or altered, but which attempts were deliberately ignored, now has a new and much more productive life ahead of it. We firmly believe that those responsible for the original attempt to sabotage our community effort in the hope that they will gain some personal advantage from it will eventually disappear too, which would be the best thing that could happen for all concerned.

Now, thanks to a charity that rescues moribund sites, combined with the hard work and diligence of one man (thank you Steve!), the site has been completely revamped and updated and is now a sister site to this one. The site is now truly a community site and contains details of groups with the same aims as we have.

You can find it at;

www.elvastoncastle.org.uk/

We will continue with our attempts to present a united community effort to prevent the loss of the Elvaston Estate to any commercial venture, either by sale or lease, and will do our utmost to present viable alternatives to the County Council.


We would like to say a big thank you to all those people who supported our garden party on Saturday, July 5th. The heavy and persistent  rain which came down all morning failed to dampen spirits and, as the advance weather forecast had given us some warning of this, we were able to to organise a switch to the Elvaston Village Hall at the last minute. A notice to this effect was placed at the nearby garden party address and stewards were deployed to redirect anyone who may not have heard or read about the changes. We had the usual superb quality home made produce available, including an unusual (but delicious) runner bean chutney, meat pasties, pickles, jams, marmalade and bread, in fact, all manner of sweets and savouries. The winners of the raffle and Teddy Bear's holiday competition will be announced in due course. The very respectable sum of £465 was raised for our funds. We would also like to say a special thank you to those people who made cash donations to our campaign. We will continue the campaign on behalf of the community and the membership of the Friends until the continued public ownership of the Estate is secured.


The glossy brochure handed out by Highgate Sanctuary both at the Park and the County Show, followed by an article in the Derby Evening Telegraph, is nothing but a smoke and mirrors publicity stunt. All that it amounts to is an expensively produced rehash which contains nothing new, other than positive proof of what we have stated all along - A ring road down the South Drive, through the Golden Gates, right at the Crown Bush, down onto Coronation Drive, left into the Castle and courtyards. To create the link, a road built around the back of the former Working Farm Museum. The loss of the Caravan Park; The loss of the Riding Stables; The loss of the Cafeteria in the Castle; The loss of public access; The loss of the Local Nature Reserve; lots of misinformation - no mention of the road to be built at Bedford Drive alongside the Showground, to reach the clubhouse at Home Farm, no plan of the golf courses, no sign of disabled parking, no sign of the golf buggie tracks, nowhere to hire crash helmets if you want to walk around the Park. In the newspaper article the company, which has never traded, gives a figure of £35 million for the development and claims for the amount to be invested just keep going up and up! Underscoring this tremendous effort is the fact that the website address printed on the glossy brochure is incorrect, taking the enquirer nowhere! of course, such a glaring faux pas can easily be re-linked,  but we couldn't correct the damage done if such an inappropriate and publicly detested scheme ever got the green light. If you can't get the website address on your glossy brochure correct, how are you going to manage a £35 million contract?

The company has never even submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment which is a major undertaking and also an essential prerequisite to any planning consideration. In reading it one could gain the impression that Highgate actually owns the Castle and Country Park - sorry, it just isn't going to happen, but only if we ALL get up and do something about it!


In response to the above brochure the following letter has appeared in the Derby Evening Telegraph of Friday, July 4, 2008.

Happy to say we are here to stay

RE Highgate Sanctuary Ltd plans and Elvaston Castle Riding School, I have recently been very touched by the concerns of locals and country park
visitors who, having read a recently produced colour leaflet, thought it
inevitable that the riding school is going to close.

I am happy to reassure them that, after 26 years here, we are not planning
on leaving at all. The riding school and DIY Livery Yard continues
successfully, amid plans made by various parties over the last 10 years,
most of which have fallen by the wayside.

The leaflet was not produced by my landlords (Derbyshire County Council) and the wording sounds as if the whole plan is just a matter for completion,
without any arguments.

There is, of course, the very significant matter of them managing to obtain
planning permission from both our local district council and English
Heritage when they present their plans in the autumn.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind, and urge, the public and
ratepayers to keep an eye on these developments as they progress. There is plenty of opportunity to complain about these plans at every stage.

It is therefore in every individual's interest to object to these plans
wherever appropriate, because the public owns the park, no-one else.

The county council is only the park's guardian, on behalf of all ratepayers,
so we need to voice our opinions – loudly!

The park could easily be self-sufficient if it was managed in a commercially
viable way.

The county council announced it could not find £500,000 per annum to
maintain it, but also stated the park receives in excess of 750,000 visitors
per year. This is only 66p per visitor!

In all of the previous areas were reopened, plus some new ones, it would be completely feasible to maintain the estate and find the £3m needed to repair the castle.

This would remove the need to find external developers who ultimately only have their profits to consider.

In summary, it's the old story — use it, or lose it! In this case, act now!

Peter Coe,

Elvaston Castle Equestrian Centre.


               
         

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