Burstow demands answers from Surrey County Council over future of Nonsuch Mansion

10.37.23am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 7th Feb 2007

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam demanding answers to questions about the future of Nonsuch Mansion and park. Mr Burstow wrote to Surrey County Council, after learning of its intention to create a 'Master Plan' for the area which may involve sale of the Mansion.

The land on which the Mansion sits is owned by Surrey County Council, but Sutton and Epsom borough Councils have had shared responsibility for maintenance of the property since the early 20th Century. Surrey's involvement came after a review by the County Council's assets committee which decided to investigate "the disposal of the Mansion House in order to release capital".

The Mansion is of historic interest, parts of it having been designed by Jeffrey Wyatt, who went on to design the Royal Apartments at Windsor Castle. In recent years, the voluntary organisation, the Friends of Nonsuch Mansion has carried out work to restore parts of the building and operate a community museum at the Mansion.

In his letter, Mr Burstow asked how and why Surrey Council has become involved in decisions about the Mansion's future. He also expressed the 'considerable public feeling' among local people in favour of maintaining the Mansion as it exists.

Commenting on the developments, Paul Burstow MP said:

"After showing absolutely no interest in the management of either Nonsuch Mansion or the park for over half a century it seems odd that Surrey County Council is stepping in now to call their future into question."

"The fact that there is a well-regarded, voluntarily-run community museum based at the house seems to have been overlooked by Surrey County Council. The idea that building a new museum makes no sense to anyone who understands that the current museum is based around restoring the Mansion and its history."

"The County needs to explain why the sudden interest and to demonstrate this is not just an asset stripping exercise with a commitment to genuine consultation about the future of both the Mansion and park.