HISTORIC Lydiard House and Park will be leased out as Swindon Borough Council continues with its efforts to balance the books.

Council chiefs say it is no longer viable to subsidise the popular heritage site and tourist attraction to the current amount of £450,000 a year and are trying to look for more commercial opportunities.

But lovers of the park fear a commercial venture taking over the running of the park could mean .

Later this year, businesses, charities and residents groups will have the opportunity to take over the running of the house and park as the council looks to find £70 million over the next five years.

The process will be similar to the deal agreed last year which saw the entire town’s leisure and golf facilities leased out.

However, while Garry Perkins (Con, Haydon Wick) the cabinet member for the economy, said the move is not about selling off the asset, he gave no guarantees the house and park will retain their current levels of public access.

He said: “Lydiard is one of Swindon’s jewels and we want to keep it that way, but our financial position dictates that we have to reduce the park’s current subsidy.

“If we are going to do that we need to make more use of the park from a commercial point of view and we need to find out from the market what opportunities exist.

“We got a fantastic response when we undertook a similar exercise with our leisure facilities and I’m sure we will receive a number of exciting proposals for Lydiard.

“This isn’t about transferring ownership of the park or selling it off. We want to look after what we’ve got and enhance it for the people who use it and love it.”

As it stands, while people have to pay for access to the house, the park is free for people to enjoy and is a popular destination for families and dog walkers.

The council has already leased part of Lydiard to tree top adventure company Jungle Parc and regularly hires out the park for events, while the Lydiard House Conference Centre could also form the basis of potential proposals with the current lease due to expire next year.

While the council said the public will be consulted before a final decision is made, local campaign groups have expressed major concerns about the move and fear it could lead people losing a treasured facility.

David Barnard, of the Lydiard Fields Action Group, said: “There has not been any consultation on this and we lack any assurances about what it will mean.

“I would have thought that for such a big move we would have been told more. We need the park and house as they are vital parts of Swindon’s culture and heritage.

“What we do not want to see is for them to become the playground for activities which we do not want while the public lose their access.

“It is important there is a consultation and this needs to be a high priority.”

Labour’s shadow lead for leisure Jim Robbins (Lab, Mannington and Western) said a number of residents have expressed concern about the potential charges.

He said: “A number of people have said they are very worried about things such as car parking charges. We understand the financial situation but we need to know more of what the council mean when they say they looking at commercial opportunities.”