On Behalf of Gayle Night

[lindsay ormerod]

Yeah C'mon Gayle;how are you gonna get a JCB up there? And really;what is the point when it's basically a kiddy death trap and a rally biker's heaven???

[park381]

The Panopticon itself will not make the Coppice more accessible to the infirm. However, as part of the wider scheme it is hoped that paths will be done so access should be easier. The main route that is used is from Avenue Parade and I agree that is very steep for a wheel chair (also steps make it impossible) but that is not the only route up there. The route via Arden Hall is being reviewed at the moment and Friends of Arden Hall have applied for a lot of funding to look at paths and access.

Why is all this not included in the initial funding for the poject.

[Neil]

Is there a problem with bikes up there at the moment?

[Acrylic-bob]

Welcome to the board Gayle. Thanks for joining us and thanks also for the detailed rundown of the situation to date.

I really have to take issue over the comparison of this project with The Angel of the North. the two things are completley diffferent, in scale if nothing else, but also different in cost (£800,000), and completley different in impact and visibility.

Yes, I agree that the angel has worked wonders for Gateshead. But I do not agree that the current proposal will produce similar results for Hyndburn. How does Mr Beard answer the charge that his work is a pale pastiche of the work of Charles Jenkcs, and as such will probably have the opposite effect to that which is intended?

[jason]

Originally Posted by Gayle Knight

There is a Panopticon scheduled for within Wycoller Country Park, on the Haworth Road car park. It was part of phase 1 and has already been through planning permission and accepted. It will be put in place later this summer. It is called The Atom and is a sort of egg shaped viewing room that gives great views over the whole of Wycoller. It also offers a little bit of protection from the wind as the Haworth Road car park is quite exposed.

mmmmmm...............i'll watch out for that one!
I go down wycoller.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by park381

Gayle

1.how would this work of art be best viewed
2. will there be any provision for the disabled (DDA) to gain access to this work of art.

Two basic questions to start things off.

Reply to Park381

The art can be viewed in a number of ways. One, from within it. One of the points of a Panopticon is to provide a viewing point so that you can look out at the views of the town, so you have to get into it. Secondly, it can be viewed from the hill which over looks it, I think it's called Hambledon Hill. Lastly, from the air - I realise this is not going to be the most frequently used method but pictures of it from the air will be quite spectacular.

On the subject of disabled access. In addition to the answer in an earlier question - in Rossendale where they will be having the Halo, they have looked at widening some roads to allow disabled owners to drive their cars a little further up the hill than is currently possible and are providing a disabled car park. I don't know if that's a possibility for the Coppice but it will be investigated as one aim is to make it as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.

[Tinkerbelle]

Originally Posted by Gayle Knight

HBC will be responsible for future maintenance as they are now.

You see Gayle this is one of the problems, the cash strapped HBC can't be trusted to maintain it. Who's going to kick HBC's backside when it becomes a dilapadated joke?

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by garinda

My question, does this grant have to be spent on the Coppice, which seems to be one of the main objections, we love it as it is why guild the lily? Would the same grant not be available to be spent on a town centre project, or does it have to be spent on 'landscape' art?

Reply to Garinda

Yes, this money does have to be spent on this project (not necessarily the Coppice) but on a Panopticon for Hyndburn. It has not come from HBC and can not be reallocated to anything else, if we don't use it for this we will lose it and all the additional funding that it's likely to bring in.

I mentioned not necessarily the Coppice because the brief was to find a hill overlooking a great view of the borough. Like I said earlier, the Coppice was selected by all the partners in the project - HBC, Mid Pennine Arts, ELP etc as the most appropriate. In Ribble Valley, the site selected was Kemple End. A few weeks ago it was realised that the residents of Ribble Valley, who had little or no objections to the actual designs, were specifically against the use of that site. We are now working with them to find an alternative site.

[park381]

Originally Posted by Gayle Knight

Reply to Park381
On the subject of disabled access. In addition to the answer in an earlier question - in Rossendale where they will be having the Halo, they have looked at widening some roads to allow disabled owners to drive their cars a little further up the hill than is currently possible and are providing a disabled car park. I don't know if that's a possibility for the Coppice but it will be investigated as one aim is to make it as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.

Why then has this not been thought of in the proposed project, and included.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by jason

How about using the grant for something worthwhile................like a childrens local charity,or for the elderly?

As I replied to garinda, it has been given to the project specifically for the purpose of a Panopticon. We can't use it for anything else.

[Bazf]

in 2 years time when there is a pile of rubbish and the project is neither finished nor funded and everyone involved has been promoted and couldn't give a Rats Ar#@ about Accy whos going to pick up the pieces?

[Acrylic-bob]

Originally Posted by Gayle Knight

Reply to Park381

- in Rossendale where they will be having the Halo, they have looked at widening some roads to allow disabled owners to drive their cars a little further up the hill than is currently possible and are providing a disabled car park. I don't know if that's a possibility for the Coppice but it will be investigated as one aim is to make it as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.

Oh, so we are going to have a carpark built up there as well are we?

It is interesting that you should mention Hameldon Hill, has anyone spoken to the owners of Cold Harbour Farm and Miry Farm to see what they think of having to accomodate increasing numbers of people walking across their land? Considering the problems they already have with members of the public using their land, I don't think they are going to be too thrilled.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by garinda

l'm not saying we've been rude so far, but we have given her a fair amount of stick in other threads, lets have a clean fight

Another question, how much of the grant will be paid to the artist?
Is there a breakdown of how the grant will be spent?

I haven't got all the facts to hand on this one so I can't say exactly but I believe it is in the region of £10k to the artist. This is not simply for his idea though. This is for his idea, workshops with local schools and for working with the project managing the build over the next two years. Anyone who does a job, which effectively he will be doing to manage the build, would expect a payment.

He will not build it with his own bare hands so the work to build it will go out to tender to approved business (approved by Hyndburn Borough Council). There are no materials being brought on or off the site so I assume that the build will literally be the labour costs involved and machine hire. I hope that a local business will receive the contract and ideally that would be the case, as I said they will certainly get the opportunity to tender for it.

[K.S.H]

will there be a cable car running up there as well from the now very little used town centre?

[park381]

Gayle

The estimated cost of this project is "£50,000" what is actually included in that figure, have there been any site surveys to check if there is in fact enough material up there to complete, have thoughts been given to access for contractors equipment, and damage caused by that equipment in getting to the site.is that included in the £50,000.