Periodically the membership and trustees of the Friends, along with neighbours and local stakeholders, are actively involved in lobbying against inappropriate development inside and outside Lydiard Park.
In the past the Friends has been successful in persuading Swindon Borough Council to restrict a high wire scheme in the woodland so that it did not affect important views of the house and lake.
For many years national house builders have tried to develop farmland around the historic park which would spoil the historic setting and harm the character of Lydiard House, St. Marys Church, and Lydiard Park. In response the Friends promotes a development exclusion zone to protect the critical setting of these historic assets agreed by Swindon Borough Council in 2004 as part of the Lydiard’s major historic landscape restoration project.
Against this background the Friends successfully lobbied during two planning appeals to confine new housing on Windmill Hill away from the park and their expert knowledge and persistence has contributed to a housing scheme in Tewkesbury Way being abandoned.
The Friends appreciates that Lydiard Park should respond to the changing needs of society but this should not be to the detriment of the unique and special historical character of Lydiard House, St. Marys Church, and Lydiard Park.