THE cabinet member at the centre of a row following the breakdown of a deal to hand over the running of Lydiard Park to a trust has had the responsibility take away from him.

In an announcement made today Swindon Borough Council leader David Renard said Keith Williams would be taking over the task of securing a sustainable future for the house and park.

The move follows heavy criticism of Coun Garry Perkins, the cabinet member for regeneration, who last week accepted claims by Lydiard Park Heritage Trust that a £850,000 sum offered by the council for a backlog of repairs to the historic attraction had been decided before the results of a building survey were known.

Coun Williams said: “As a West Swindon resident I understand the tremendous importance of this asset to our town. I am looking forward to working with all interested parties to shape a new future for the park and house.”

In a statement Coun Renard said: “The future of the park and house is secure and will remain under council ownership and management. However, it is best that we have a fresh start so that we are focused only on what will happen next.

“It is clear that the people of West Swindon in particular, merit our continued reassurance about the Conservative administration’s commitment to preserve and promote Lydiard Park and house. “Therefore, I have decided to extend Councillor Keith Williams’ portfolio to include responsibility for Lydiard. Keith is a Shaw resident and was the cabinet member who oversaw the successful transfer of the council’s leisure centres to the not-for-profit GLL.”

He added: “Councillor Perkins has worked very long and hard on this venture and he is disappointed that we have been unable to reach agreement with the preferred bidder, but it is time for a new approach.

“Garry has my full confidence as a cabinet member and his regeneration portfolio is facing an exciting time. With North Star Village and the exciting snow dome coming to planning, with the proposals to take forward the town centre with the revisions to Kimmerfields, the new bus station, the Aspen House and the tented market developments, and the continued revitalisation of the Carriage Works, Garry will be continue to be key player in the town’s political leadership.”

Talks between the council and the trust fell apart earlier this month after the parties failed to agree on the bill for a backlog of repairs to the listed building. The trust’s surveyor put the cost of work close to £5m to bring it up to a suitable standard.

A spokesman for the Trust said: "Our work over the last 2 1/2 years has been focused solely on what is right for Lydiard House and Park. We would like to thank Coun Perkins for his work on Lydiard and we wish him well in his future challenges.

"The trustees look forward to working with Coun Williams and hope to meet with him later this weeks. With goodwill on both sides we are confident that we can create a sustainable future for Lydiard.

"To address the short term issues at Lydiard we again call on SBC to: 1. Publicly recommit to The Friends 11 Red Lines.  

"2. Appoint interim management at Lydiard Conference Centre to work with the existing loyal and hardworking staff when the current operators leave in April.

"3. Publicly commit to undertake all the maintenance and repair work that their own in house surveyors have agreed needs to be done."

A spokesman for Swindon's Labour group also spoke. He said: "This sacking makes no real difference to safeguarding the future of the House and Park.

"We want to see concrete action from the council. What are they doing to safeguard the future of the conference centre? Will they be putting management in place to guarantee bookings? 

"Will the Council sign up to the 11 Red Lines set out by the friends group? Will the borough be funding the outstanding maintenance work?

"Will the borough commit to keeping the park in public ownership beyond the next election?

"There remain more questions than answers on Lydiard and the current shambles can give no-one in Swindon confidence about the future of Lydiard Park and House."