milnshaw park or the coppice

[cashman]

like the hambledon idea, if the panoptican is a suitable design. saw a model of one at wycoller on sunday and must admit was quite impressed. p.s. havent voted cos dont like either option.

[janet]

The only thing we need at the moment in Milnshaw Park is a skip for the rubbish. I walk the dogs there three times a day and have not seen council workers doing any thing for a long time.

[Acrylic-bob]

Thanks for the update Gayle. I have to say I missed the article you referred to, which is annoying since the online version doesn't carry it.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the dreadful rings will not now take place and that we will all have a little while longer to enjoy our favourite landmark in all its rundown glory. I don't know about you but I'd call that a result and a reminder to Quango's everywhere to be wary when trying to fob off the good people of Accrington with their second rate schemes.

I look forward to seeing the results of the rethink. In the meantime, if I can be of any assistance with advice on suitable locations for the next favoured option please don't hesitate to ask, I would be only too happy to help - seriously!

The Times is a newspaper, not Holy Writ, it is written by human beings who are just as capable of being wrong as any of us. I choose to read it and occaisionally share bits from it with members because its columnists use good English and are often quite thought provoking. There is however quite a bit of garbage in it too, but hey, that's life; you have to take the good with the bad.

[Gayle]

Don't go gloating yet mate - we're looking at options, and some possible options could be to put something else on the coppice instead or to move the rings to another site - doesn't mean either of them are dead and buried yet.

[Acrylic-bob]

Gloating? Who's gloating? I am just pleased that common sense has at last prevailed. It's just a pity that it took that well known intellectual heavyweight and doyen of the Arts Establishment Peter Britcliffe to convince you!

Still, as I said, if I can be of any assistance, I will be only too happpy to place my meagre talents at your dispoosal.

As a first bit of advice, perhaps you might have a bit more success if you were to make the selection procedure a bit more public. Your last offerings have smacked of done deals and decisions made over the heads of the people. Trust the people. They may not know much about art but they usually know what they like. And, after all, it is their park you are proposing to change and they who will have to live with it when it is finished.

Humility is not something that is not often seen in public bodies in Accrington. A little of it now might go a long way towards getting the people of Accrington on your side.

[Gayle]

We did make it public - there was no 'done deal' about it at all as has been proven.

The process was really simple and we tried to reach as many people as possible. We invited three artists to put forward ideas - those ideas were displayed at seven places around Accrington and Huncoat, it was advertised in the Acc Obs and LET both in editorials and in placed advertisements. We put posters up all around the borough, not just in Accrington. We then announced which one had come out most favourably and asked the designer to go away and develop the design - then we went through the whole process of displaying it and advertising it again. I'm not really sure we could have done a lot more. You found out about it so it must have worked.

It was in the local papers practically every week from January through to April. The debate raged on here and I came on this site to talk about it.

I'm a bit cross that we were accused of it being a done deal for a few reasons
- because it wasn't - we felt we'd worked really hard to consult with people and short of going and knocking on every door in the borough I'm not sure what else we could have done.
- because people get cross because they have found out by word of mouth instead of being personally told by the organisers of an event or activity, yet people choose not to read or listen to information that is presented to them
- because as we've proven by going away and looking for other options we have listened to people and we haven't foisted something on the town that not everybody is happy with.

[Gayle]

And I forgot - we held a public meeting at the Town Hall and made presentations at the Huncoat area meeting and to the Accrington Civic Trust.

These were all advertised with editorials in the paper and adverts in the paper. We also put posters all around the towns.

[Owd Bert]

I posted this over a year ago but thought it may be appropriate in this thread. At the time members posted views on what wording, if any, would be appropriate. This was my T-in-C contribution. On second thoughts ---- why not?

[WillowTheWhisp]

Maybe it's the artist himself we are a little disillusioned with because his efforts don't seem to be very inspiring and he doesn't have much to show by way of other things accepted elsewhere.

[Doug]

OK, I’ve read what’s been said here and it’s more or less the same tit for tat exchange as we had last time. So how about an accyweb partnership or working group “call it what you will” where interested parties or individuals come together and discuss what that would like to see happen in a constructive way that might offer ideas that we might agree on that we as a group can be put forward as an alternative to perhaps some of the more disliked schemes that have been bounded about. We have among us some extremely talented individuals whose backgrounds may serve the borough well.

[Gayle]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet but did you see the article in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph tonight? It was basically a non-story and nothing has changed since my last post on this subject in this thread.

The article implies that our new main choice for the siting of the Hyndburn Panopticon is in Burnley. The truth is that we are looking at a LOT of different option sites for the Panopticon and one of them happens to be along the Huncoat Trail which goes partly over the border into Burnley. Nothing has been decided, we're not even at a point where we can recommend any realistic options yet.

I can say though that this story in the LET was sought in a slightly underhand way by using the new Freedom of Speech act which meant that we had to hand over all documentation regarding meetings and letters. They obviously thought we were hiding something when the process was as transparent as it could possibly be. The story that they have printed is not new news as I told you all and them some time ago that we were investigating all possible alternative options before we made another presentation to the steering group.

I just thought I would let you all know that before speculation went wild again.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I saw the story in the LET tonight and thought.....'not much new there'

[SPUGGIE J]

Only one problem here, were ever it goes the vandels will get at it.

[scooby12]

i think that milnshaw park should have something done to it not because i live near but but just the state it is in.
i have two kids and have recently ventured in to queens park and ormerod park in burnley and have to say how tidy they were with no graffiti or vandalism.and the play area was not one that you would look down on the floor to check if there was any glass lying on the floor for your kids knee to pick up at the first chance like at milnshaw.
also there were plenty of flower beds full of colour and not not pulled too pieces or full of green like we have come on hyndburn council give us something good please

[UBZ]

Well I think they should build it on "Whinney Hill Tip".

This post is not a troll, I'm serious.

I left Accy over ten years ago and I've been browsing around this site going down memory lane etc etc waffle waffle.

Anyway I can't believe what a state the place is in now, I used to play in Milnshaw park as a kid, I know every nook and cranny. It is an utter disgrace how HBC have been letting the Borough go down hill as a whole.

It seems like they are throwing money into the town centre as if it was a bottomless pit, what kind of vision do the councillors have for the town?

Why are they allowed to get away with bulldozing such monuments as the Accy Grammar School and then build the ugly green monster where the Peel st Bus station used to be. It does not belong amongst all the old buildings that surround it.

Why is Accrington trying to be so ultra modern?
Why not market Accrington for the town that it's always been. an industrial cotton town. HBC should be proud of the heritage and market that instead of trying to bulldoze every last remnant and become a modern yuppy bedroom town for the Manchester commuters.

Try and see these "developments" from somebody else's perspective, I watch from afar and I am literally so mad that I am cussing profanities as I browse the Accy Web site.

Deep down somewhere inside I love Accrington but to tell you the honest truth when I look at the state it's in now I'm glad I left when I did.

Take off the rose coloured glasses folks and take a good look around you, exactly what is HBC doing with all "your" money.

Anyway I've got to go and calm down before I tell you what I really think.

Cheers,

Dennis.