What's happening?!

The City Council has decided to sell "The Lawn". Lincoln's Lawn. Our Lawn.

Such an important decision would surely have seen and needed wide consulation?

Forget it. None of the stakeholdes was approached directly. Only two small adds were published in the Lincolnshire Echo on 25-08-2011 and 01-09-2011. According to Ric Metcalfe, leader of the City of Lincoln Council, this is was a "wide consultation".

Why should we care?

A movie celebrating the contribution of The Lawn to local culture, heritage and open green space commisioned by the very same Lincoln City Council which now wants to sell off the family silver sums it up quite well on a youtube video : the Lawn was an innovative mental hospital, it houses the Joseph Banks Conservatory, it is and was used for many local events, it has the potential for tourism, and is part of the Lincoln Heritage trail. In other words, The Lawn is part of our heritage, and has the potential to generate an income for the city.

Why would the City Council want ot get rid of it?

It costs the city less than 50K per year to maintain it, and after many years of disinvestment in The Lawn by the Council has seen visitor numbers dwindling. Instead of coming up with some good innovative ideas about how The Lawn can help income generation for the city, the Council has decided to auction off what belongs to us all.

What do we want?

Proper consultation. Or, to quote someone in a more proper context, a "wide consultation". A proper consideration of how The Lawn can be developed by the Council in partnership with interested parties before any part of it is sold off.

The Hands Off Our Lawn campaign has so far collected well over 2,500 signatures. The Council has a moral obligation to listen to our request for a proper consultation process.

Please support our on-line petition by clicking here

Please contact us if you want to help with our campaign: handsoffourlawn@hotmail.co.uk

If you want to visit us on facebook: hands off our lawn

The Lawn buildings and the open green space the city needs (please note that the green space on the left is now being filled with houses):

Please click on the links below to read more about the battle for The Lawn:

Council goes ahead with the sale of The Lawn

The Lawn Sale: not a quick fix for tourism

The case against selling the lawn

Hands Off Our Lawn