On 3 March Enfield Council officers and representatives of the Broomfield House Working Group met Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) officers to discuss the reasons for the failure of their recent bid for funds to restore Broomfield House. They were told that HLF officers had in fact recommended to the board of the National Heritage Memorial Fund that the bid for £4 million funding should pass the first round of decision-making. In the event, faced with the task of evaluating ten new projects and with only £12 million to disburse, the board decided that the Broomfield House project - by far the most challenging of the projects under discussion - involved too much risk. They did, however, note that the project had strong heritage and community attributes and were pleased to observe the close working relationship between the Counciil and the Working Group.
The Council and Working Group are now considering their next steps. Options include reducing the physical scale of the rebuilding (perhaps only restore the oldest part of the House), and/or seeking significant additional funding from non-HLF sources. In addition, but also in an attempt to reduce risk identified by the HLF, further examination of the stored salvaged artefacts (staircase and mural remains) might be carried out. This might make it possible to bid for a smaller amount of funding from the London HLF committee with a higher chance of success.
For detailed information about the project to restore Broomfield House, visit www.broomfieldhouse.org
