An email dated 16th November 2005 from Graham Mansey, Secretary, Friends of Elvaston reads:
Dear Sir or Madam,
As the Secretary of the Friends of Elvaston, a community group dedicated to preventing the disposal of Elvaston Castle Country Park by Derbyshire County Council (DCC), to a private development company, I am writing to all the groups and associations which use the Park for rallies and recreational purposes. We understand that if the Estate is privatised, these facilities will be lost forever. We believe that the Estate should be run by a not-for-profit trust for the benefit of all present and future users.
Having exhausted all reasonable approaches to DCC, over a number of years, and to no avail, we have been left with no alternative but to take legal action to prevent the Park's loss to the public. To this end we have applied to the High Court in London for a Judicial Review. We sought the advice of a barrister. Upon examining the evidence with which we presented him he was optimistic and stated that we have an above average chance of winning our case.
We are now seeking contributions from all interested individuals and organizations who support our aims. If you support the objectives of the Friends of Elvaston would you please distribute our details to anyone you think may be able to contribute. Our details are below:
Thanking you,
Graham Mansey, Secretary, Friends of Elvaston, on behalf of the Committee, and
the Community.
(For further information on Elvaston Castle, please access the Derby Gripe website. This site contains our Forward Plan and also photographs of most of the remaining machinery and artefacts at the Castle), or visit the new Friends website.
The Payment account is at the Derbyshire Building Society,
the direct transfer details are:
Bank Sort Code: 23 56 28
Account No: 00000000
Reference No: 331174608
The zeros in the Account Number are DBS's banking code and are fine. Any legal
funds left over after the case is finished will go to the Derbyshire Children's
Holiday Home at Skegness Lincolnshire, which Derbyshire County Council closed,
and which the community reopened!