Thursday, October 02, 2008

Paul Varnsverry to fight Northampton South

The Northampton Chronicle & Echo reports:
A former campaigner against a controversial earth bund in Delapre park has been chosen as the Liberal Democrat's candidate for one of the most hotly contended seats in the next General Election.
Northampton Borough Council member, Councillor Paul Varnsverry (Lib Dem, West Hunsbury) has been selected as the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton South.
Well done, Paul. "But what is a bund?" I hear you ask. It turns out to be an earth bank, and this posting on a BBC message board explains the local controversy:
Northampton Borough Council holds Delapre Abbey and parklands in trust for the people of Northampton. It is the site of a number of points of historical interest - the Abbey, site of the Battle of Northampton 1460, "ridge-and-furrow" medieval farming, etc - but used to be (and could once again be) a nice place to take a walk in the country just a short distance from the town!
260 Acres of the park were converted into a municipal golf course in the 1970s. In 2003, the management of the golf course was handed over to a private company. Within five months, the new golf course operators (note: they *lease* the land - it still belongs to the people of Northampton) submitted a planning application for a bund *six metres* tall, encircling the golf course! This was rejected by the Council as excessive, and a two metre tall bund was approved.
You can see some photos on the BBC site too.

1 comment:

dreamingspire said...

Its intended to be a redoubt, no doubt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redoubt
But, unless they defend it, it could become a stand for the spectators to enjoy the show and lob verbal missiles.