I think I may donate to this instead, in support of Smaug the Tyrannical

https://twitter.com/ProjSmaugMoor

Trotter wrote:

And at the same time a PR piece from John Rhys-Davies, hopefully does not repeat his claim that no centres exist for Tolkien

Nothing in this to add to the debate about the house, not really surprised.

With all the respect to Madame Golding...that was too messy, she s asking people for 6M$ and she don t have any strong answers! Marketing show A1

I'm going to write up my thoughts on the video interview as well, shortly. In the meantime, I am heavily moderating posts about it, with apologies to all. Lets keep the focus on questions about the project and not on the people, is my request.

Is the funding raising time period just a gentleman's agreement between this project and the current owners? When does this time period expire? What happenes if they've got only, say, £2-3 million at this point? What is to stop the current owner putting this back on the market or just straight-up accepting an offer from someone else right now? Just curious how formal this "off the market" arrangement is...

Well, that's the thing - they started out clearly saying "we need this money in 3 months time, then it's all good" and now she's saying "well, the owner might change his mind."

onthetrail wrote:

(...)
He doubts they can even do the work they claim they want to. That if they asked about it then it would be available for the public to read as it is a matter of public record and that they should have inquired about alterations before the fund was started. I can't see in the 'at risk 2020' that 20 Northmoor Road has been listed. With that I think Heritage England do not consider the site at any risk or in need of change.

Is your friend aware that Golding's husband works for the firm that has finally convinced Oxford City Council - after many years and efforts - to turn the Eagle & Child into a b&b?

Olwe wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

(...)
He doubts they can even do the work they claim they want to. That if they asked about it then it would be available for the public to read as it is a matter of public record and that they should have inquired about alterations before the fund was started. I can't see in the 'at risk 2020' that 20 Northmoor Road has been listed. With that I think Heritage England do not consider the site at any risk or in need of change.

Is your friend aware that Golding's husband works for the firm that has finally convinced Oxford City Council - after many years and efforts - to turn the Eagle & Child into a b&b?

No he was not but that is a separate concern and involved 2 or more operating businesses changing use. Not a residential property protected by Historic England, in a conservation area.

I think it best we focus on this property and project but thanks for the heads up

After viewing the Julia Golding interview I was struck by some aspects of it. Firstly she mentioned that "this is my favourite question" and she stated that before the question was asked, correct me if I am wrong but the questions were pre-approved? I note that the period given by the current owner seems a shifting agreement and I was alarmed by the statement "if he doesn't think we are raising enough he could sell it to someone else". A very different statement to "we have been given a 3 month period to secure funds". Which is it?

The interview itself has done nothing to address the serious concerns that still dog this project imo. I asked many questions of which one was addressed by the Project Northmoor account on YouTube. I asked if they had inquired to the relevant authority about the changes they ant to make and the reply stated they had "contacted the highest authority in government". I then name checked HE and asked for the advice that was given but I had no further contact with them.

When asked about the use of moneys raised Julia Golding did not have anything concrete to say. It was very much following the "could" and "maybe" and even suggesting fans offer their take on what should happen. I thought asking for $6M meant some form of forward planning yet the answers provided did not cover much beyond the FAQs on their website (which themselves lack definition).

I don't think I need to say more. The concerns we have are still present and there is still a (perceived) unwillingness to really answer awkward questions.

THE ABOVE COMMENTS REFLECT MY OWN OPINIONS. THEY DO NOT REFLECT THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER.

My main thoughts were that this project was done very much at the last minute and was not convinced why they did not take longer with planning before proceeding as it has not been thought through in sufficient detail.

None of my concerns about the project were sufficiently answered, in particular will they raise enough money to buy the house which does not seem very likely to me.