Forum topic: Broomfield House: What is the council up to?
Broomfield House: What is the council up to?
PGC Webmaster
21 Sep 2022 20:05 #6585
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The saga of Broomfield House rolls slowly on, but what kind of ending it is heading towards remains as obscure as ever.
Enfield Dispatch has reported this week that Enfield Council has confirmed that it has submitted an "expression of interest" bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for obtaining grant funding for work related to the remains of the Grade 2 listed building, but without giving any clue as to what it would spend the money on. The council says that "there will be a form of engagement and/or consultation later this year" and that, if it gets through to the next stage of the bidding process, the cabinet will consider proposals some time next year.
It's clear from comments in the report by Colin Younger of the Broomfield House Trust that the council has, not for the first time, failed to keep the Trust and the Friends of Broomfield Park in the loop, despite the decades of hard work that these community organisations have put into trying to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of the fire-ravaged mansion.
Colin is quoted as speculating that the council might be planning to submit a proposal that the lottery fund would find unacceptable and thus provide a justification for demolishing the remaining structures. For him, the Broomfield House Trust and many local people, this would be a bitter disappointment after the continuing presence of the ruins in Broomfield Park have kept alive some hope of at least partial restoration for all these years - though, it has to be said, not for everyone, since some people just regard the unsightly remains as a continuing blight on the park.
The new Dispatch report is best read together with Colin's August update for Palmers Green Community - links are below
Links
Council submits Broomfield House lottery bid (Enfield Dispatch 17 September 2022)
Broomfield House: Where we are and how we got there (Palmers Green Community 3 August 2022)
UPDATE: Broomfield House: What is the council up to?
PGC Webmaster
21 Sep 2022 22:39 #6586
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So by this time next week the mists shrouding the future of Broomfield House may have cleared away somewhat...
It looks like the power of the press (ie Enfield Dispatch) may have played a part...
Broomfield House: What is the council up to?
Jan-Willem Jonker
22 Sep 2022 08:41 #6587
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And if it were to be rebuild, then we still need to find a use for it that justifies the expenditure and pays for the building's upkeep and running costs, or else it will be just another financial millstone around the Council's neck.
It is tragic that a much loved local building was lost to fire and the administrative impotence of local politics over decades to find a solution is galling, but is it time to just give up and move on?
Broomfield House: What is the council up to?
George Andruszkiewicz
29 Sep 2022 10:55 #6594
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Note: This forum thread is now closed. If you wish to continue the discussion about Broomfield House, please comment at the bottom of the latest news item about the house .