Swindon in the Past Lane

Reminder -  Full Council Meeting, Council Chamber, Civic Offices, Euclid Street  This evening - Thursday, January 21st 7pm Having given consideration to the Friends of Lydiard Park petition (which now stands at 8,436 signatories) members of Swindon Borough Council are going to debate the subject again. Motion 7a - Lydiard Park and House (i) Councillor Garry Perkins will move: "This Council notes the online petition signed by over 8,300 people, saying: "We the undersigned oppose Swindon Borough Council's plans to hand over Lydiard House and Park to the commercial sector." This Council requests that the Board Director, Service Delivery ensures that the report scheduled to go to Cabinet in February sets out a timetable allowing a further three months for all proposals to be developed more fully so as to reflect the Council's goal of securing a sustainable future for Lydiard House and Park." (ii) Councillor Jim Robbins will move and Councillor Jim...

I wrote this article during the Christmas 2012 celebrations at Lydiard House and Park. Lydiard House was beautifully dressed for Christmas, busy and full of visitors.  This year I visited the day before Christmas Eve. With no Christmas programme the House was quiet and during my visit an electrician suddenly appeared unannounced and plunged the State Rooms into darkness. Now if I were a glass half empty type of person I could view this as prophetic, b ut I think the fortunes of Lydiard House and Park could easily be turned around without leasing it to a private partner. If, like me, you want to see Lydiard House busy again, its future and that of the park safe, secure and accessible to the people of Swindon, please sign the Friends of Lydiard Park petition and attend the public meeting on January 12. Meanwhile why not come to one of the talks and tours in the Behind Closed Doors event? For further details about the petition, meeting and events please visit the Friends of ...

Well, things have been pretty busy this week with the launch of The Friends of Lydiard Park petition - Swindon Borough Council: Lydiard House and Park at Risk. Lydiard House and Park is a unique and hugely valued heritage asset used by thousands of Swindon people and visitors to the town. Swindon Borough Council is proposing to hand over the day to day management and control of Lydiard House and Park to an external commercial organisation which will seek to take profit from the site. Swindon Borough Council say they are doing this to eliminate Lydiard's annual running cost. The Friends of Lydiard Park believe this can be done without handing over the town's 'crown jewels'. We the undersigned oppose Swindon Borough Council's plans to hand over Lydiard House and Park to the commercial sector. The first step was to reach 1,500 signatures, which would see the issue of Lydiard House and Park qualify for debate at a full Council Meeting. Then there was a snag...

Are you struggling to keep up with events surrounding the future of Lydiard House and Park? Following just two public engagement days any further questions you might have now have to be asked (and hopefully answered) via email at lydiardfuture@swindon.gov.uk. The process continues until December 11, which is the deadline for expressions of interest from parties wanting to lease areas of the estate, and December 18 for members of the public to contribute their views. The Friends of Lydiard Park have expressed their ideas and opinions to Swindon Borough Council and in the local press . But if you think that it's not such a bad idea for the Council to lease out areas of the Park if they can no longer afford to subsidize it, could I flag up a few issues? Swindon Borough Council cannot guarantee that free, unrestricted access to Lydiard Park will continue under any new partnership. Neither can they guarantee that any development in the Park will not take place and at the W...

Three years ago I visited the newly revamped Avebury Manor . In 2010 the BBC in partnership with the National Trust refurbished and redecorated nine rooms in the empty manor house, each in a different period of history as part of a series called The Manor Reborn. (You can still view a few short clips  here). The fixtures and fittings were a mixture of antique fair purchases and creative up-cycling and in some cases new pieces made in the style of ...  As nothing is irreplaceable or intrinsic to the house, visitors are allowed, nay encouraged, to sit on the chairs, open cupboards and drawers and bounce on the beds. The whole project was something of an experiment and it is probably fair to say the National Trust had certain reservations, but it has been a resounding success and on each subsequent visit I have made the house has been busy, so much so there is a timed entry to prevent the rooms becoming too crowded. Now I'm not suggesting taking down the red ropes in the st...

If you were unable to attend the two public engagement days at Lydiard Park you can print off this form and scan it and send your reply to lydiardfuture@swindon.gov.uk or post it to Rachel Watts, Asset Transformation Delivery Lead at Swindon Borough Council, Civic Offices, Euclid Street, Swindon SN1 2JH. Closing date is December 18. There have been criticisms of this process and the form. 1. Why wasn't the form available, not only as a hard copy, but also online. In the past the Council has used SurveyMonkey - see the following Wikipedia description -  SurveyMonkey is an online survey development cloud-based (software as a service) company, founded in 1999 by Ryan Finley. SurveyMonkey provides free, customizable surveys, as well as a suite of paid back-end programs that include data analysis, sample selection, bias elimination, and data representation tools. In addition to providing free and paid plans for individual users. SurveyMoney offers more large-scale enterp...

Today is quite possibly your last chance to have your say about the future of Lydiard House and Park. The second of two public engagement days takes place in the Visitor Centre, Lydiard Park from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm.  Feel free to print off this list. Swindon Borough Council have appointed independent property advisor Bilfinger GVA to identify joint venture partners. Meanwhile adverts have been placed in trade journals and newspapers to invite organisations to submit proposals to help make Lydiard House and Park more sustainable and to reduce the local authority's £450,000 annual subsidy. These are my ideas, arrived at with the help of the people of Swindon, who were gifted the property in 1943 when a visionary, philanthropic Swindon Corporation bought the Lydiard Park estate. The list just keeps on growing! Lydiard House Unique selling point – scandal Tell the story of the St John family The links with the Tudors (perennially popular with children and adults ali...

Swindon Borough Council will be holding the second of its public engagement days at the Visitor Centre, Lydiard Park on Sunday November 22 from 9.30 am  to 3.30 pm. The evaluation form we are invited to fill in is woefully inadequate I feel. It includes the usual tick box exercise but the two sections where we are invited to express our feelings are headed - What do you value most about the site and what does it do well? and What do you value least and think could be improved? A lot of thought has obviously gone into these two statements, with the Council's ultimate objective in mind - the leasing out of the House and Parkland. I value everything at Lydiard House and Park and yes, of course there is room for improvement, as in all services and attractions everywhere, both publicly and privately owned. But I still believe this could be achieved under Council ownership with the allocation of profit sharing contracts where the Council retains control rather than long term lea...