A council-owned stately home feared at risk of being left to rack and ruin could be restored as a leading venue for big events and celebrations. Thanet District Council (TDC) is looking for a new operator to take on Grade II-listed Northdown House in Margate, which until last summer was home to a special educational needs school. The closure of the Lighthouse School came in the same month Your Leisure – which had leased the site since 1999 – announced it would be handing it back to the local authority. It sparked fears “rot would set in” at the Victorian mansion, which had previously hosted a …