Swindon Borough Council have announced that the decision of who will run Lydiard Park has been put back, confirming expectation that it would not happen until early 2017.
The move has been put down to a community group triggering a six month moratorium period as Lydiard is designated an Asset of Community Value.
The Council had already received five bids to take over the running of the park by their 8th July deadline, but hadn’t announced the names of the bidders due to commercial confidentiality.
However this is known to include a bid from another community group, the Lydiard Park Heritage Trust, as they have announced their bid submission, and is thought to include Twigmarket Ltd, who took over operations at Broome Manor Golf Club in November 2014, as they previously expressed interest and a number of bids to run small parts of the park.
It was planned that councillors would either be presented with a preferred bidder or asked to carry out due diligence on all the bids when the Cabinet next meet on 7th September, however have decided to use the full six months of the moratorium to allow the community groups to complete their bids.
The moratorium gives the community groups until 22nd December to finalise their bids, but with the Lydiard Park Heritage Trust having already submitted a bid, this will likely just be used by the Love Lydiard Trust Ltd.
The six month period has been back dated to coincide with an interim six week moratorium that was triggered on 22nd June.
With the new mid-December deadline for the full moratorium it will now be the new year before the Council announce any winning bid.
Patience required from submitted bidders
Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for Lydiard, Cllr Garry Perkins, said, “The moratorium period has been introduced by the Government to give community groups enough time to put together their formal bids, which we welcome as we want proposals that are robust and can demonstrate they will achieve a sustainable future for Lydiard.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organisations who have already submitted formal bids for their patience while we go through the moratorium process. We will make an announcement on any preferred bidder as soon as we are in a position to do so.”
The Cabinet decided to invite formal bids to run Lydiard Park in February 2016 as part of their cost cutting measures through reducing Council expenditure on the annual subsidy and ongoing maintenance for Lydiard, which cost £460,589 last year.
However this led to public concerns ranging from whether the park would remain accessible to the public to operators prioritising profit over heritage, and the subsequent formation of the not for profit Lydiard Park Heritage Trust, whose stated aim is to preserve the house and park for the people of Swindon.
“It may well be that other bidders have requested more time”
As the only confirmed organisation so far to have submitted a final bid the Lydiard Park Heritage Trust said of the news, “the Council have announced that the decision as to who will manage Lydiard is delayed until the new year.
“There is no legal reason for the delay, it is purely the preference of the Council, and the Lydiard Park Heritage Trustees, of course, respect their position.
“It may well be that other bidders have requested more time to finalise their bids.
“We are ready willing and able to negotiate the legal agreements that will formalise the outsourcing at the Councils earliest convenience.”
Should Swindonians still be concerned?
Given that the moratorium stops the bid being awarded to a private organisation until 22nd December, but allows it to be awarded to a community group prior to that deadline, the Council’s announcement that a decision won’t be made until the end of the year could cause concern that it indicates their preference for a private organisation.
However this may not be the case.
It also raises concerns over the running of the conference centre with the current management contract due to end in December. Are the council going to renegotiate the lease, potentially taking away a much needed income stream for any potential bidder, or will the centre close until this process is complete?
And with no indication at this point of when Love Lydiard Trust Ltd will be submitting their final bid the Council have to plan that the moratorium will run it’s course.
So it looks like we are all waiting on Love Lydiard Trust Ltd, and given the public interest and concern on the matter everyone will be eager to find out more about the group and their plans for Lydiard as soon as possible.
