Lydford Old Spring
Lydford has a certain number of green lanes. One of these opens out onto a small parcel of land on which is situated a spring. This is thought to be of historical interest. Although the lane was perfectly walkable it was decided at the July 2006 meeting of Lydford Parish Council (LPC) to obtain funding to "tidy up the walk to the ancient spring and the spring itself". For this purpose LPC managed to obtain funding from the banking firm ING to the tune of 10,000 pounds. Quite some tidy up!
That the Parish Council was granted the 10,000 pounds by ING is all the more surprising when one considers that the April 2006 minutes of LPC record "It was felt that as this land does not appear on the Asset Register of the Council that it was not owned by the PC". Since the cheque from ING was received steps have been taken to register the land as being in the ownership of LPC. It seems amazing that it is possible to obtain such a large sum of money without first clarifying ownership by ensuring the land is properly registered (with the Land Registry) before applying for the grant.
Some of the money has also been spent on a solicitor to undertake the registration of the land but the above minutes seem to indicate that the attempt at registration has not been successful. This is not surprising. It is probably also fortunate. Lydford Parish Council claim that the point of registering the land is to "establish Public Ownership for perpetuity". As anone who is familiar with the workings of local government will know public ownership is no guarantee that the land will remain available for public use.
Even if the present councillors intend that the Old Spring should be available as a public open space other councillors could, at some stage in the future, take a different view. Whilst it may seem like a good idea now, in the future the Old Spring might well come to be viewed as an unnecessary burden on a cash strapped parish council (see item on the Lydford public conveniences). Some might think the status quo is the best way of ensuring continued public access to the Old Spring.
Work finally started in July 2008, some 18 months after the Parish Council received the cheque from ING.
Leaving aside arguments over ownership and registration the key point about this project is that the money could have been put to better use elsewhere. See section on 'Wider issues' and 'Katine' for instance.
It is interesting to note that on 19th October 2008 it was reported that ING, who provided the grant for the work at the Old Spring, are to receive 10bn Euro (£7.7 bn) of support from the Netherlands authorities.
A twist to this story came to light in January 2009. It seems that a building adjoining the Old Spring was bought by a parish councillor, although quite why they would want an old garage is not clear.
Lydford Old Spring April 2008
Work started July 2008
Work mostly complete. November 2008
April 2009. £10,000 well spent? You decide!