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NEWS UPDATE
 The plight of
Elvaston Castle Country Park is one that not only touches
the hearts and minds of people locally and nationally,
but also those of ex-pats throughout the world and the
mailbox of the Friends of Elvaston is often testimony to
this.
Tens of thousands of people are
against the privatisation and loss of this historic
estate. Some think that because nothing appears to be
happening at present, all is well. Others think that it
is already lost. Neither viewpoint is correct, all is not
well but neither is it all lost.
Derbyshire County Council began
taking practical steps to dispose of the estate eight
years ago. In deciding to favour private, profit-making
companies and rejecting community groups, or charitable
initiatives, the council began a process which has led
directly to the present sad state of Elvaston Castle,
although it should have done much more to protect it than
it has done.
The first company the council chose,
Seasons Holidays PLC, failed. Now, Highgate Sanctuary is
the company wishing to turn the estate into a hotel and
golf complex. The community has never agreed to this, and
this is where the problems begin. Every public
consultation the council has carried out regarding the
disposal of the estate since the year 2000 has been
convincingly rejected by the public.
Elvaston Castle was opened as the
first country park in England on Good Friday, 1970, and,
for almost four decades, people have been enjoying this
beautiful place, with its rich and diverse history, some
even getting married there, until the council recently
stopped such events from taking place.
A major setback to any progress is
that the council appears to have rejected everything else
in favour of privatisation but fails to inform the
community of any headway, seemingly oblivious to the
concepts of openness and transparency. What information
does become available makes it apparent that the Elvaston
Castle everyone knows and loves will become a very
different place to what it is now, more like the city
centre with all the roads, new buildings, golfing and
hotel activity.
The places where people like to
wander freely and lose themselves in thought will be
gone, removed in the name of profit. Areas where
families, their children and pets run about and play in
carefree surroundings will be a thing of the past. In
everything it publishes about the disposal, the council
states that public access will not be affected and that
the development is on land not open to the public. The
Friends of Elvaston totally refute these statements.
Some of the land to which the
council refers is grazing pasture south of the castle,
including the wildflower meadow running up to the A50
link road. There are public footpaths crossing this land
that have been used for generations, perhaps hundreds of
years. The Local Nature Reserve, an important and
designated area for wildlife, has been included by the
council in the lease to the developer as part of its golf
course plans. This is at a time when the importance of
biodiversity and the preservation of wildlife has taken
centre-stage.
Another major factor to be taken
into account is the rapid expansion in the number of both
residential and commercial building projects in and
around the city. Practically every suburb on the southern
boundary is affected and the massive estate to be built
south of the park itself illustrates the even greater
need for open space. An audit of public open space in
South Derbyshire identified a significant shortfall in
the area. Similarly, there is a shortfall in the city
too.
Elvaston Castle is greatly valued by
disabled people, who find the level ground less taxing
for them. Derbyshire County Council isn't heeding any of
these facts. There are a multitude of schemes which, with
community involvement, could attract public funding. The
city, South Derbyshire and Erewash Borough Councils
should contribute a share of the money needed, which they
don't at present. The park is often held up as a county
asset but is under-funded. By sharing costs, the benefits
could include jobs in tourism.
The Friends of Elvaston want to see
a brand new, independent public consultation on the
disposal of the Elvaston Castle estate carried out. If
the community votes for the disposal, we will withdraw
from our campaign. If, however, it votes against it, we
want the council to have a major rethink. This has to be
the way forward. Secrecy and misinformation can only make
matters even worse than they are now.
Thank
you to the hundreds of people who attended the Friends
Autumn coffee morning at Elvaston Village Hall on
Saturday, November 10, it was an outstanding success and
our best yet! We had bric-a-brac, tombola, Christmas
decorations, lovely paintings and sketches by our local
artist and, of course, the usual delicious and
mouth-watering offerings from the ladies who make all the
beautiful cakes, pastries and preserves. Our funds have
benefited to the tune of £595!
The
winner of the 'Name The Bear' competition was Mrs Val
Sanders of Derby. Congratulations to her.
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