Swindon Borough Council is extending the deadline for tenders to bid for the running of Lydiard by 2 months, with the deadline now on Friday 8th July.
Some of the prospective organisations wishing to take over the running of Lydiard have expressed a wish for the council to have a structural survey done about Lydiard House and other buildings on the site.
This follows the election of Labour candidate, Matthew Courtliff, as the new Lydiard and Freshbrook Councillor. His campaign pledge was to stop Lydiard from being run for private profit and to keep Lydiard under public control.
The Council have said any new provider of Lydiard House and Park will be allocated £850,000 to tackle the current maintenance backlog for the site, but Councillor Matthew Courtliff has questioned the allocation of this money when the council hasn’t got an up to date structural survey on the site.
New Lydiard & Freshbrook Councillor, Matthew Courtliff, said:
“Whilst the Council is listening to feedback from potential bidders about taking over the running of Lydiard, it needs to listen to feedback from West Swindon residents who voted to not have it run for profit.
The extension of the deadline for tenders to take over the running of the park will give Lydiard campaigners and I more time to lobby the Council to ensure Lydiard isn't leased off to a private company and we don’t lose sections of the park.
It's also odd that the council offered £850,000 to prospective bidders for backlog maintenance work without having done a structural survey, which is what they are now committed to doing. It just goes to show the whole Lydiard outsourcing process hasn't been thought through properly, which is why we need to halt this ill-considered policy."