LYDIARD Park and House are to stay in community hands after the council’s cabinet voted to confirm the Lydiard Park Heritage Trust as its preferred bidder.

Over the past two years, the much loved site has cost the council around £460,000 a year to run.

While parking revenue has reduced that figure considerably, the unprecedented financial pressures facing local authorities across the UK make it a cost the council cannot continue to bear.

Last year they took the decision to invite expressions of interest and later formal bids from organisations interested in taking over the running of the Park and House.

Three full-site bids and two additional partial bids were submitted and following a lengthy process, the Lydiard Park Heritage Trust saw off competition from fellow community group, the Love Lydiard Trust, and commercial leisure provider Twigmarket.

Council officers highlighted the heritage expertise of the Trust’s core team as well as the record of key trustees in accessing Heritage Lottery funding.

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Wednesday evening, senior councillors voted unanimously to approve the Trust as preferred bidders.

A period of due diligence by both parties will now follow and a final deal is expected to be signed later this year.

Councillors from both sides of the political divide congratulated the Trust on their successful bid.

Chairman of the Trust, Mike Bowden, said: "We are of course delighted by the decision and I can assure both the council and local people that the hard work of all our trustees will continue; complacency will not be an issue.

“It has been a real pleasure to work on such an important community project with such a talented and experienced group of trustees, and I thank them for their unwavering commitment over the last 16 months.

“We are grateful for the widespread support we have received from the local community and we look forward to working with our recently formed advisory group over the coming months.

“We have never seen the process in party political terms and we have reason to thank members of the Conservative administration and the Labour and Lib Dem parties for their support and contributions.

“The preservation of Swindon's rich heritage is so important and I hope we have persuaded many that a well organised charitable trust may be a useful template for other heritage challenges in Swindon."