Comment by Matthew Kitching on February 11, 2017 at 20:28

Colin,

What's the latest on the restoration of Broomfield House? It's such an eyesore.  If a publicly funded solution isn't viable what's the alternative?  I can imagine a lovely gastropub on the site and at least that way people would be enjoying it (providing we can get rid of the rats).

Comment by Colin Younger on February 12, 2017 at 11:52

Matthew,

The current proposal involves a bid  to the Heritage Lottery Fund Enterprise grant scheme which has to be combined with a commercial partner. The problem we have as a Trust is balancing our charitable objectives focusing on community access to the House and Stableyard with the need to find significant  capital.

 At the moment we may be faced with a favored financial option which might for example result in the stableyard and stable block being sold off for housing, and smaller version of Broomfield House as an events centre. However, we are still in discussion with the Council, Historic England and the HLF about this.

Comment by Matthew Kitching on March 15, 2017 at 20:21

Thanks Colin. Your efforts are admirable but the 'house' has been derelict such a long time. My young children are starting to ask me why the middle of the park is in such a state and I was hoping to see a transformation in my lifetime. Perhaps its time to consider other options.  What is driving the need to balance charitable objectives focusing on community access to the House and Stableyard with the need to find significant capital? Are there covenants or restrictions placed by the landowner?  What is obstructing the opportunity to simply find capital, e.g. leasing the site to commercial operator on a term lease designed to secure the investment required?

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