More than £1 million spent on scrapped Elvaston Castle masterplan

A council spent more than £1 million on scrapped plans for an historic and disrepaired Derbyshire castle and country park estate. Derbyshire County Council says it spent £1.4 million on its now spiked plans for the 321-acre Elvaston Castle and Country Park Estate.

This month the authority opted to repeal the long-standing masterplan, including a new car park and link road, following rising costs of supplies, inflation and the lack of outside funding, with the price of the first phase rising from £35 million to £50 million. Its new plan focuses on modernising the castle courtyard, increased marketing and upgrading the equestrian and showground facilities.

The council itself is facing a £40 million budget black hole which it must close in order to avoid effective bankruptcy, with day centres for older people and those with autism, care homes and children’s centres already in the process of being closed. A council spokesperson said: “When work on the masterplan began, doing nothing wasn’t an option.

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“Obviously, the financial climate has changed drastically since then, which means the masterplan is no longer viable. But the estate is becoming increasingly expensive to run and cannot generate enough income in its current form to cover its costs.

“If we leave Elvaston in its current condition that, too, will come at an increasingly unaffordable cost – which is why a new approach is needed.” In July 2019, the council signed a deal to pay Birmingham firm Mace Ltd £179,000 to provide specialist strategic project management for the masterplan.

Two years ago, campaign groups had made clear their stance on the then continuing masterplan, dubbing it “unnecessary expenditure for a cost-cutting council with reduced social care budgets”. Earlier this month, Ed Fordham, the council’s Liberal Democrat group leader, said: “Only now is the panic button being hit regarding Elvaston Castle.

“Few greater mockeries could be made by the Tories that they are closing care homes and day centres and yet the county council owns a castle and grounds.” Council plans for the future also include potentially selling the castle and its wider estate, or handing over its management to a different organisation. These options will be continually reviewed, it says.

The council has been spending £50,000 a year on the master plan and the annual maintenance for the site is £356,000, while it has been giving £18,000 a year to the Elvaston Castle and Gardens Trust to manage the day-to-day affairs of the estate for four years (£72,000) which is to be increased to £28,000 for two years, it writes. The first phase of the master plan involved a new “discreet” 1.5km access drive from a roundabout to be built off the B5010 close to Thulston Roundabout, leading to a new 600-space car park – previously priced at £5 million.

It also involved the regeneration and reuse of historic buildings on-site as a range of shops including an ice cream parlour, blacksmiths, education centre, tearoom, and plant and flower sales. A new 150-cover cafe and adventure playground was also to be built as part of this first phase, along with “enhanced landscaping” throughout the site.

The plan aimed to create 176 new full-time jobs with 194 in total across the site when including existing jobs in the figure.

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