Seeking permission for Walsall Wood memorial
April 17, 2009Walsall Wood will feature on the agenda at Full Council on Monday evening. It will be nice to focus the attention of the Borough’s councillors solely on Walsall Wood for a short period of time.
I will be presenting this report (http://www2.walsall.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=6942) to ask councillors permission to errect a memorial mine head on land at Oak Park. It will still have to go through the planning process – the reason it is coming to Council is because the councillors when sitting as Full Council are also the trustees of the land on behalf of the Cannock Chase and Pelsall Miner’s District Charity which reverted to the trust of the local authority.
I will be asking “that Council acting as trustees on behalf of Cannock Chase and Pelsall District Miners Charity, for the land approves the installation of the piece of public art to the site at Oak Park, Walsall Wood subject to planning permission being granted and consent being given for the long-term maintenance of the installations”
I have posted about the Walsall Wood consultations, steering group etc many times before on this blog. Many of you have got involved and I thank you for that. There is still a chance for you to comment on the work as it goes through the various planning stages. As the report states:
“Community consultation has been undertaken recently to ensure that the
opinions of the Walsall Wood community have been considered and more than
90% of the forty one responses that were received concerning the Mine Head
were positive. A planning application has also been submitted to the planning
authority and through neighbourhood consultation it will give residents of Walsall Wood a further opportunity to comment on the Mine Head proposals.”
I will let you know what Council decides to do – I am hopeful after presenting the report to the controlling Conservative group this evening. Please comment on the planning application as it goes through the consultation period. Pictures of the proposed memorial are in the report i’ve linked to above.
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I just wonder, in these times of economic problems and when the Learning and Skills Council are pulling funding from colleges and other learning projects, if this is the correct use of public money. Have you asked beyond Walsall? What does Smith Square say about this?
Well done on getting the memorial approved. While there will be debate regarding the financing of such a scheme, the icon it will become can only be a positive sign for Walsall Wood.
We don’t need icons, this is just a vanity project – it’s not even original. There are tributes to miners all over the towns of the former South Staffs coalfield – ironic that so many are being pushed by those who supported the destruction of the mining industry.
I’m sure those who’ve lost their jobs on the council, the OAP’s paying extra for their meals on wheels and all those desperately in need of day care or some semblance of a functioning social care system will appreciate the wastage that’s going on here. I just cannot connect the messages of belt-tightening coming out of Walsall Council with the gross waste and lack of originality here. At a time when those former miners that remain alive need the social state most, those in power choose to spend the money on junk rather than improving their care. I think that says it all.
Still, at least Mike will get his photo in the paper again…
Bob
Heard Hague on World at One today. It would appear that central office are not in favour of waste. So, why is a Tory Council promoting this? They will soon be telling us that they were not in power when the mining industry ceased!
Austerity (D Cameron) means what it says. Spend only what you have and what you need to spend on. After all, according to Hague, there are two years of no council tax increases when the tories come to power. Walsall conservatives managed the highest increase in the region. Possibly not that same party!