‘Undershaw deal falls through!’ A week ago a ‘deal’ was proposed between UPT and the DFN Foundation, which would see DFN’s plans for the stable and well revised so that they would remain unchanged. Coming after lengthy and unsuccessful negotiations to try to persuade DFN to tone down the harmful effects of his proposal on Undershaw as a whole, this deal was a ‘pragmatic solution’ proposed by UPT to try to save at least some of the ACD-related parts of the property from irreversible harm. In his letter, resigned to securing only a little of what UPT had hoped by way of improvements to the proposal, Mr Gibson wished the DFN Foundation ‘a fair wind’ in carrying out the proposed works. Relating to the stable and well, his letter also clearly stated ‘Plans to be produced to UPT (Mr Gibson) before Friday 24 October’. We can now report that no such plans were received by Mr Gibson before the deadline passed. In addition, UPT considers that in his reply to Mr Gibson’s letter, in which DFN wrote, ‘I am delighted that, in the light of our agreement on the well and the stables, you and the UPT are fully supportive of our plans’, and the subsequent publicity by DFN over the course of this last week, the views of UPT with regard to the DFN proposal as a whole have been grossly misrepresented. In the light of these two factors, on 24 October on behalf of UPT Mr Gibson submitted a formal objection to the proposal. UPT sincerely hopes that the DFN Foundation will withdraw its current harmful proposal, but if it does still go before the committee at Waverley, UPT urges Waverley’s officers and committee to listen to and act in accordance with the strong objections to the DFN proposal submitted not only by UPT, but also by others including English Heritage, the Victorian Society and individuals including Dr Liv Gibbs (Historic Environment Consultant) by refusing the listed building consent and planning application. This news will please some of you, but not those who had hoped that at last this was the scheme which would finally save Undershaw and which UPT could support. UPT urges its supporters to have confidence and patience that an appropriate future use for Undershaw can and will be secured which conserves what is significant and special about it – the DFN proposal is NOT its last chance! There is interest by others in taking on the property, and UPT has new specialist advice on board which can help those trying to secure a future worthy of Undershaw’s very special history. Fundraising and continuing to raise the public profile of Undershaw will remain vital, potentially on a much bigger scale than before, reaching out to Undershaw and Conan Doyle supporters worldwide. So please continue to support UPT and Undershaw - help turn the dream into reality!
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 10:16:52 +0000
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