Labour Customer Services Spokesperson Councillor Kate Butler said ‘Labour pushed for this improved deal which means that, following negotiation with the National Trust, residents will now have one day of free access per year to what is a stunning local asset which should be enjoyed by everyone.
‘This offer reflects the strong relationship Stockport Council has with the National Trust, and I’d like to encourage as many local people as possible to take up it up.’
The proposed free residents’ pass will be redeemable on any day during the year, the only exception being bank holiday weekends. It will entitle the bearer to free car parking, house and garden entry at Lyme.*
Coun. Butler added ‘With the scale of cuts that the Government are imposing on the Council it is vital that we ensure every penny is going as far as it can do.
‘Stockport Council has a sub-lease with the National Trust which involves contributing to the maintenance of Lyme and which will run until 2046, so it is an issue of fairness for local taxpayers that there is this agreement on the table.’
The Lyme estate has been owned and managed by the National Trust since 1946. The house at Lyme is a designated Grade I Listed Building, and is the largest in the whole of Cheshire, having been built in the late 16th Century and sitting within large formal gardens and surrounding deer park.
Cei Paynton, General Manager at Lyme said ‘We greatly value the support of Stockport Borough Council in helping to maintain Lyme, and we are pleased to be able to offer local residents this free pass which we hope they will enjoy using.
‘Our local community is important to us and we look forward to welcoming its residents this season.’
The library at Lyme Park is home to the Lyme Caxton Missal, the only surviving copy of an early printed book produced by William Caxton in 1487, which was purchased by the National Trust with the help of Heritage Lottery Funding for £465,000 in 2008.
Stockport Council and the National Trust, subject to negotiation, will jointly announce how local people can obtain their one day free residents’ pass in the spring of 2016.
*Please note this does not include free entry to paid for or to pre-bookable events.