Conservatives to Sell Swindon's Soul - all bids welcome

The ownership, access, and future of Swindon's crowning glory, Lydiard Park and House, is now clearly in the sights of Swindon Borough Council.

Despite assurances pre-election that the future of Lydiard Park and House was secure, of course, that wasn't the case.

As reported by the Swindon Adver, and here, it was clear that the Council's documentation showed that there was a recommendation to carry-out market testing in March 2014, at the same time as Swindon Conservatives denied there were any plans.

Now there appears to be a similiar fog, in whether the public will still have free access to the parkland, regardless of who runs the park and house day-to-day. 

The house and park were purchased due to the foresight of Town Clerk David Murray John for the people of the town, to go back on this and charge people to enter the park would be like selling part of the very soul of Swindon.

Plus, have any councillors or officers thought that if access is restricted to the parkland, then you can wave goodbye to the inclusion of the park's open space in the official figures?

In one move, SBC could reduce the level of public open space of an entire town, making the town's environs a worse place to live.

No doubt, they would then investigate investing a huge amount of money in building one of some fields.