Voice of Lincoln: Should we sell the Lawn?

By Nicholas Beaumont nick

The City Council decided to put up for sale most The Lawn complex in uphill Lincoln, despite 1,200 people signing a petition to stop the transaction.

The council says the former asylum has suffered a public decline in recent years, and with maintenance expenses getting more costly, they are not in a position to put in the long term investment required to make use of the facilities.

The areas planned to be included in the sale are the main Lawn complex, the conservatory, the south car park, the south lawn, and the freehold of Charlotte House.

The Lincolnite asked the people of Lincoln what they thought about this decision.

Mark Myers

Mark Myers, 38

“Well, as long as it gets sold for a good cause, then I don’t mind really. It isn’t as popular as the castle or the cathedral, but I would say it is probably the third most popular tourist attraction in Lincoln. I think the conservatory and the grounds are nice, so as long as people can still visit those parts, I’m okay.”

Jane Sinclair

Jane Sinclair, 58

“I think it will be a shame if it wasn’t going to be there for the community as a whole. If the council are selling it, then surely that would mean they are selling it into private ownership, and the public won’t get the freedom to walk through like they did. We’re only visiting, but it’s a very nice place, and it would be a shame to spoil what there is.”

Adam Jones

Adam Jones, 26

“I’m actually in agreement really. I think the Lawn has probably got quite high maintenance costs, and they’re only going to get worse, so it’s probably a drain on resources. If they’re not going to make that money back, then it should be up to a private person to try and make it profitable. If they were going to close down the grounds, that would be a bit more of an issue, because most people use it to walk around the fields. If that stays, I don’t really mind.”

Francesca Rampley

Francesca Rampley, 20

“Because it belongs to the council they can have community activities like dancing, so if it goes to private hands, what’s going to be available then? Is the private company still going to do the events that the council held? It won’t be a community place anymore, but one of these highly priced private places. It’s a really big place, and it’s really good for community activities because you can have so many people in there. I think it’s one of the big council-owned places where everyone can feel free to go have a look, and it’ll be shame if people can’t do that anymore.”

Main Photo: Lincolnian Brian

Nicholas is studying at the University of Lincoln for an MA in Creative Writing. He is a published poet, and an editor of arts magazine b[liminal].