Oak Hill Park Bandstand

RealFriendsOfOakHill · 21-10-2007, 21:03

Re. the article in Fridays Observer featuring Mr Tony Hindley, chairman of the so-called "Friends" of Oak Hill Park and his views on the band stand:
Accrington Observer - 'Bandstand will be costly and attract yobs'

Mr Hindley is planning to hijack the meeting on the 1st November to steamroller the council into a decision not to rebuild the bandstand.
We risk losing one of our finest local outdoor venues, because of this one man’s personal mission.
Anyone who disagrees with Mr Hindley, please make time to attend this meeting and make their views known, or sign our online petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bandstand/

The Real Friends of OakHillPark

Gayle · 21-10-2007, 21:19

Hiring a bandstand each year for the community festival costs the group £2,500. If the bandstand was rebuilt it would mean that we would have more to spend on the programme.

mrskitty · 21-10-2007, 23:32

I have signed it x

BERNADETTE · 21-10-2007, 23:35

Signed and sent

mez · 22-10-2007, 08:15

yup me too signed & sent.

flashy · 22-10-2007, 10:00

erm...why is the donation fee in dollars???

Neil · 22-10-2007, 11:30

What reasons do you have for rebuilding it?
What reason does Mr Hindley have for not rebuilding the band stand?

If you want us to help you out you should at least give us all the information.

Am I correct in thinking the original band stand was burnt down by vandals?

I just read the Observer article. His objection appears to be down to attracting vandals. I think that all depends on the design of the band stand. I personally think they should rebuild but I am making my decision based on the very little information provided. Do you have the minutes of any meetings where the band stand was discussed? You could post them to help us understand the pro's and con's.

RealFriendsOfOakHill · 22-10-2007, 18:19

Hello,

Thank you all for your interest in our campaign. It is great to see people signing the petition.
I would like to answer your questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashytart

erm...why is the donation fee in dollars???

The petition is hosted for free by a website called iPetitions. The optional donation would go to them, not us. We do not ask for donations and don’t encourage people to donate to them in this way. It’s a shame they feel the need to do this along with advertisements. To set up our own petition without the advertisements etc would have become costly.

The donation is optional, it doesn’t cost anything to sign the petition!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

What reasons do you have for rebuilding it?
What reason does Mr Hindley have for not rebuilding the band stand?

If you want us to help you out you should at least give us all the information.

The reason there isn’t much information is because until last week there was no need for this campaign as there was no opposition to the bandstand being rebuilt. The council were waiting (5 years!) for an insurance claim to be settled. When the claim was settled work on the Bandstand would commence. This had the full backing of Mr.Hindleys group ‘The friends of OakhillPark’.

Bandstand set to rise from the ashes

What has happened to change their opinion we don’t yet know.

I have my own personal opinions of why the Bandstand should be rebuilt and will air them in the petition.
We want this campaign to represent the people of Accrington and all their views, not the views of one or a handful of people.
As you can see in the petition, people are stating many reasons for the bandstand to be rebuilt and also adding other great ideas. When we hand the petition to the council it will represent everyone who signed it and their opinions and not just ours.

We have limited time to get as many signatures as possible. If you support the campaign, please sign the petition and let others know about it.

Thank you for your time.

Sign the petition here.

garinda · 22-10-2007, 18:26

Signed.

I'm firmly in favour of the sort of zero tolerance programme Mayor Giulani did in New York, in the 80's/90's.

If it's vandalised, keeping fixing it, until civic pride means eventually it stays unvandalised.

Bonnyboy · 22-10-2007, 18:28

I never realised that you could actually see the signatures to the petition along with the comments/suggestions.

lettie · 22-10-2007, 18:32

Signed........

MargaretR · 22-10-2007, 18:36

Be realistic folks - would you thraipse all the way (uphill) to that park to listen to a brass band on a Sunday? Once a year use doesnt justify a rebuild there.
If they rebuilt it on Broadway and livened up the town centre with concerts I might well come out of hibernation and go.

jambutty · 22-10-2007, 18:44

I signed with these comments:

Quote:

Oak Hill Park on a summer’s Sunday afternoon was the place to be for families back in the 40’s after the war. You could buy pop or an ice cream (if you had any spare money) and listen to the band playing everything from classic to pops of the day. Or you made a picnic out of the occasion.

I don’t suppose that those days will ever come back but nonetheless the bandstand is part of Accrington’s heritage and it should be preserved.

It would be a great pity if the bandstand were demolished although in these days with very loud personal radios I can see a lot of agro ahead from yobbos.

I think that this Mr Hindley has a secret agenda, which involves the insurance money, which is why he is against the proposal.

MargaretR · 22-10-2007, 18:48

The key word there is 'preserved' -- too late -- its gone!

MargaretR · 22-10-2007, 19:06

This thread has reminded me of an enjoyable, memorable evening in the northern Italian town of Treviso, where the local council laid on a free concert.
The American Airforce band played for 3 hours. A stage and seating had been laid out and the square was packed with folk. Local bars, shops and restaurants did a roaring trade.
Also - anyone who has been to St Marks Square Venice, knows how the bands there on Saturday night draw the crowds - shops stay open - bars and restaurants are packed.

We are supposedly due to have a warmer climate within a decade - let us adopt the Mediterranean way and begin into enjoy our town centre again