THERE will be no decision on a preferred bidder for the Lydiard Park site this month after Swindon Borough Council confirmed they would hold off on taking a decision until 2017.

There had been some debate as to whether the triggering of a six month moratorium by one of the community bidders meant the process would have to be halted and it now appears that will be the case.

Last year the park cost the council £460,589 to run, a slight increase from £458,000 the previous year.

With Swindon facing the same strains on budgets that local authorities across the country are battling with, a decision was taken to try and reduce that financial burden.

In February, the Cabinet agreed to invite formal bids from outside groups to run the park.

It is hoped that reaching such an agreement will reduce the council’s annual subsidy and put the popular site on a stable financial footing moving forward.

Five bids were received by the deadline of July 8 - among them were two from community groups the Lydiard Park Heritage Trust and the Love Lydiard Trust.

It was anticipated that at next week’s cabinet meeting, councillors would either be asked to support a preferred bidder or asked to carry out further due diligence on a range of bidders.

However, earlier this month, the Love Lydiard Trust successfully activated a six-month moratorium period.

Lydiard has been designated as an asset of community value and the government has introduced a system whereby community groups can apply for more time to compete against commercial actors.

The two community groups now have until December 22 to finalise their proposals.

It had been thought that while the moratorium prevented a deal being done with a commercial bidder during the six month window, the council could still have gone ahead with a community deal.

They have now confirmed that this will not be the case, instead they will announce the final outcome of the bidding process in the new year.

Garry Perkins, the cabinet member for Lydiard, said: “The moratorium period has been introduced by the government to give community groups enough time to put together their formal bids, which we welcome as we want proposals that are robust and can demonstrate they will achieve a sustainable future for Lydiard.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organisations who have already submitted formal bids for their patience while we go through the process.

“We will make an announcement on any preferred bidder as soon as we are in a position to do so.”