Bradgate Park take over row
THE LEADERS of the city and county councils have taken control of Bradgate Park to try to improve the way it is run.
County council leader Nick Rushton has teamed up with city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby to improve the management of the 850-acre country park.
Coun Rushton, who is chairman of the Bradgate Park Trust, said the time was right for a new management strategy, which had included bringing people such as Leicestershire County Council assistant director Roderick O’Connor and Anstey councillor Deborah Taylor on to the board.
Coun Rushton said: “A little while back, Peter Soulsby and I realised Bradgate Park was not delivering for the people of Leicester and Leicestershire, so we are now in control.
“The whole management of the park will be looked at.
“It will take a while to do this, but we just thought Bradgate Park Trust was not acting in the best interests of the people of Leicester and Leicestershire.
“The parking strategy, for instance, has been causing problems in the village of Newtown Linford and the county council was constantly down there. What it boiled down to was that the parking strategy of the trust was not fit for purpose.
“We have done a full parking survey which is now going through various trust committees and will come to a conclusion later this year.”
He said it was unfair, for instance, for someone walking their dog for half an hour to have to buy a full day’s parking ticket, and added that many drivers also liked to pay for parking using apps.
He said: “Charges need to reflect what people want, and stop visitors parking in Newtown Linford. You will get more people paying for parking if the short-term charges are not prohibitive.
“If you can pay by app there are not such high costs of collecting and banking cash from machines, which is generally 20 per cent of the money you take.”
The trust charity raises more than £1 million a year from parking towards the park’s £1.5 million annual costs. About two-thirds of visitors use the Newtown Linford entrance.
He said they also wanted to address the way the tea rooms were run.
He said: “We don’t want to make millions, but they can’t be subsidised by car parking.”
On top of that he said the trust hoped to ensure properties on the estate were properly rented out and the deer stocks are appropriately managed.
Coun Rushton said: “Between the county and city we have such vast resources that we must be able to run it in a better fashion.
“There should be no need for the trust to have to buy in services – there is plenty of back office work that can be done by our teams.”
Sir Peter, who is vice-chairman of the trust, said the park was a major asset, gifted by Sir Charles Bennion – founder of the British United Shoe Machinery Company – for the people of Leicester and Leicestershire in 1928.
He said: ““Traditionally, the two councils have seen the trust as something that happened in the distance, as it were.
“I think we both feel the trust has come a long way in the last few years with the visitor facilities and excellent catering but we recognise that perhaps we have not been there to give it as much support as we could.”