Five organisations have submitted proposals to take over the running of Lydiard House and Park.
The deadline for submitting bids to run Lydiard was last Friday (8 July) and they will now be scored against a set of criteria. The Council will interview bidders next week before further clarifications relating to the bids are sought.
The Labour Group has welcomed a bid being submitted from the staff of Lydiard to run the Park and House and argue it is crucial that Lydiard isn’t run for profit.
The Labour Group’s Shadow Lead for Lydiard, Councillor Jim Robbins, said:
“The Labour Group’s position remains that we do not want Lydiard run for profit and we want Lydiard to remain under public control. With the recent introduction of car parking charges at our country parks projected to raise £400K, this easily covers the cost of running Lydiard.
I am heartened that some of the bids submitted are from not-for-profit organisations and I welcome the bid from the Lydiard staff to take on the running of the park and house. To me, Lydiard is a jewel in Swindon's crown and I'd much prefer a not-for-profit option, rather than a private operator taking money out of Lydiard.
What concerns me is that the Council’s Cabinet are using the transfer of leisure and golf facilities as their blueprint for transferring Lydiard. Those transfers led to many broken promises made to local residents and a declining service at our flagship golf complex. We don’t want that for Lydiard.”