Chris Grayling sets out to put the record straight in his letter of March 15. One needs to go back further than he has done, to information that came out of Surrey County Council prior to the meeting of the executive on February 27.

This includes a letter dated January 10 from Keith Barker of SCC Estates Planning and Management, to David Smith, clerk of the joint management committee. This included the sentence, "The (member asset) panel supported the core objectives of guaranteeing public access to the parkland and grounds, the disposal of the mansion house in order to release capital for reinvestment in the park and the creation of a new museum, whilst at the same time providing a planned removal of any future call on local government funding from all the authorities".

It was clearly envisaged that consideration should be given to selling off the mansion to a private developer. It is not to be wondered at that so many local people were horrified by this prospect and turned out in force at the meeting on February 27. This show of public concern had an affect, and the idea of selling off the mansion appears to have been dropped.

Hopefully, the joint consultation now proposed will lead to a solution that will ensure public access to the park and mansion, although it is not to be expected that it will be possible to remove any future call on local government funding from all authorities, as envisaged by the member asset panel. The park and mansion are public amenities that merit public funding in the same way that the numerous other parks in the local boroughs are funded.

In Victorian times local authorities took a pride in making parks available to the public, and it is sad that these days the expenses are borne so grudgingly.

CHARLES ABDY Seymour Avenue Ewell