CAMPAIGNERS are delighted that plans for an 18-hole golf course that they say would have "destroyed the ambience" of Elvaston Country Park have been dropped.

The developer behind the plans, Highgate Sanctuary, is also scaling back its proposal to turn the site's Grade Two star listed castle into a hotel.

Both changes have been prompted by the disapproval of English Heritage which believed access roads to the course would have "changed the historic layout" of the site.

Derbyshire County Council, owner of Elvaston Castle and country park, says it may now have to retender for a company to take over the attraction.

This is because Highgate's plans are now so different from those originally discussed when the developer was chosen as preferred bidder for the site more than seven years ago.

A spokesman for campaign group Friends of Elvaston Castle said that, despite the lack of progress, he was glad the golf course plan was no more.

He said: "We are delighted that plans so inappropriate for a country park and that would have destroyed its ambience have been dropped but wonder why the council has continued to support this for so long.

"We will continue to dispute any plans that lead to privatisation of the castle itself.

"Making it a tourist attraction again and running it as a Big Society social enterprise is still what we consider to be the best alternative proposal."

An English Heritage spokeswoman said it was worried about two access roads to the course.

She said: "The original proposal for the golf course would have required the roads to be built on the grounds at Elvaston, changing the original historic layout of the registered park and garden, and this was something we had concerns over.

"We also had concerns over the extension because it would have affected the setting of Elvaston, the scale of it was too large and it would have damaged the historical significance of the listed building."

What happens to the castle next would be up to the council, said the spokeswoman.

A new report, mainly paid for by English Heritage, showing what the castle could be used for, says it could become a hotel, a residence, a company's headquarters or a mixture of the three.

It is understood that, if the council did retender, any of these ideas would be considered.

County councillor John Harrison, cabinet member for finance and management, said the authority's legal department was now considering whether this would be necessary.

But Whitehall has already "strongly recommended" that the process take place, as economic conditions are so different to how they were when the tender was first drawn up in 2002.

Mr Harrison said he was unable to set a date for when a planning application could now be made for the castle as "too many balls were still up in the air".

This is despite an earlier report finding that the crumbling castle and grounds needed £6.4 million of repairs.

Most of the golf course itself would not have been built on country park land. But Home Farm, which is on the site, would have been converted into the clubhouse.

Mr Harrison said Highgate bought the land outside the country park from quarrying firm Tarmac and that it would stay in the developer's ownership.

Asked if shelving the golf course plans made it more likely that "initial discussions" held with the National Trust about it taking over the castle's grounds would progress further, Mr Harrison said he was unsure.

Dr Tanya Spilsbury, managing director of Highgate, said the firm was still working with English Heritage and the council on drawing up an acceptable planning application.

She said this process was set for completion in March.

Dr Spilsbury said: "We are looking at a different hotel without the golf course. The new report has made it very clear what English Heritage do and don't want."