SARA

SARA’s successful Campaign to Save Nonsuch Mansion House - What they said:

Mr Bill Slaughter, Chairman and President, Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents’ Association (SARA):
“There is no doubt whatsoever that without SARA’s campaign and the support it received from thousands of people who care about Nonsuch Park, the Grade II*-listed Mansion House would by now have been sold off by Surrey County Council to a commercial developer and converted into luxury flats, offices or a hotel, resulting in public access to this much-loved 200 year-old house and its six acres of formal walled gardens being lost forever.
I am tremendously grateful to everyone who assisted with SARA’s campaign and to everybody who supported it, especially all those who attended SARA’s public meeting last October and every one of the 4,760 people who signed SARA’s petition. Many people not only signed the petition themselves but organised additional signatures as well. It is a testament to just how deeply thousands of people care about safeguarding the future of Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House. They are all heroes.
Neither must we forget to thank a special hero - the very senior Surrey County Council officer who leaked the county council’s secret Options Report to SARA, at the personal risk of immediate dismissal.”

Mr David Smith, Chief Executive of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council and Clerk to the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee (JMC):
“I am delighted that after 16 months of hard work we finally have a legal framework agreed by all three local authorities to secure the future of Nonsuch Mansion and the Park. We can now start to work on the future of the Mansion as a community facility for both Boroughs, building on the hard work already done by councillors and officers of Epsom & Ewell and Sutton which has benefitted hugely from the interest and support of local residents.
The Joint Management Committee is now back in control of negotiations with its chosen bidder and will need to formally reconsider the tenders as much has changed over the last 16 months. We can then get on with bringing the building back into use and securing an income from it.
There is a lot of work to be done but we are looking forward to it. Nonsuch Mansion is going to have a great future."

Surrey County Councillor Nigel Petrie MBE, (RA) Epsom and Ewell, North East Division:
“For many years, Epsom and Ewell Borough Council and the London Borough of Sutton have supported the activities of the Joint Management Committee of Nonsuch Park and Mansion House. The JMC has worked hard to preserve the facilities on the manner that the residents want, sometime in very difficult conditions. One of the difficulties has been uncertainty about the future of the land and the building.
Now that there is going to be a lease for 125 years, the JMC can carry on where it left off, finding appropriate uses for the premises and providing for the long-term care which this estate deserves. We are so grateful to the many people who have worked so hard, particularly the local people who have turned out in their thousands, at meetings or on petitions, to help to ensure the continuing enjoyment of the facilities for future generations.
No one has worked harder than Bill Slaughter to press the residents concerns in so many different ways and he deserves great credit for what has been achieved. The deal was approved by the Executive of Surrey County Council (SCC) on 25 March 2008, at a meeting attended by over one hundred residents. I took the opportunity to speak at this meeting and thanked all those people, including the members of SCC who had made this arrangement possible. All that remains is for the lawyers to finalise the lease, which is expected to take up to three months.”

Epsom & Ewell Borough Councillor Alan Winkworth (RA), Stoneleigh Ward, Chairman of Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee (JMC):
“THE END OF THE ROAD BUT THE START OF THE JOURNEY: After over 15 months of meetings, protests and yet more meetings, Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House are safely back in the hands of the Joint Management Committee.
The efforts of everyone from both Epsom & Ewell and Sutton, but especially Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents’ Association (SARA), have secured its future and it is now up to the JMC to ensure that the correct steps are taken to allow the Mansion House to flourish and prosper for the benefit of the general public.”

Mr Keith Lugton, Chairman of Nonsuch Park & District Residents’ Association and Chairman of the Standing Committee of Residents’ Associations (SCoRA):
“This is the outcome for which so many people have been fighting so hard during recent months. The campaign has been fronted by Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents’ Association (SARA), supported by Nonsuch Park & District RA and many other RAs in Epsom and Ewell.
We owe thanks to the people of the area who have stood up to be counted in spectacular numbers, to SARA for their hard work (and particularly their chairman, Bill Slaughter) and to all the Residents’ Associations who have supported and encouraged these activities.
This result is a clear indication of the strength of the Residents’ Association ethos in operation in Epsom and Ewell. Very simply, we ensured that we heard the views of the residents, we brought those views together and then we made sure that the decisions taken were in line with those views.”

Councillor Graham Witham (Conservative), London Borough of Sutton, Chairman of Sutton South, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee:
“On behalf of the residents of my Ward, The Local Committee I chair, The Conservative Group on Sutton Council along with our Parliamentary Candidate, I pay tribute to all those who by their resilience ultimately saw a successful conclusion to SARA’s Save Nonsuch Campaign.
We are proud and grateful to have had the opportunity to be associated with your efforts and look forward to the JMC creating a stable and thriving asset for all those who appreciate the Mansion and the grounds.”

Mr Ian Elvey, Chairman of Sutton’s Worcester Park Residents’ Association:
“SARA’s Campaign was inspirational. It was emboldening to work jointly with SARA and Save our Nonsuch Campaign.
A touching example of joint working was to find a Worcester Park resident at the Demonstration at County Hall who had come because of the copy of the SARA petition I had handed out to her husband at Worcester Park Station.
Celebrations all round, yes. Perhaps also a new phase of challenges of financing the scheme for the JMC, requiring further mutual support from residents and both Sutton and Epsom & Ewell Councils.”

Councillor Nick Skellett (Con), Leader of Surrey County Council and Chairman of the Executive:
“It (SARA’s petition, containing 4,760 signatures) is impressive; it is one of the largest petitions ever presented to the County Council.” “The wording of the petition could not have been better if the Executive itself had written it.”

But, there is always one bad loser: Surrey County Councillor Ian Lake (Con), Executive member for Support Services (the Conservative county councillor who tried, unsuccessfully, to mastermind the sale of Nonsuch Mansion House):
“It’s all heat and light.” In a radio interview shortly before the Executive meeting on 25th March, mocking SARA’s Campaign to save Nonsuch Mansion House!

SARA has received many letters of congratulation on its successful campaign and we thank everyone who has been kind enough to write to us. Too many letters have been received for them all to be published on the website, but the following letter is typical of the many kind comments we have received:

From Mr and Mrs S.G., Sutton:

Note: As with previous letters to SCC published on the website, the names and address of the joint authors has been removed, to protect their identity. The original letter is held on file.