Bacup THI Board statement

In July members of the Bacup THI Board, Councillor Jackie Oakes, Acting Chair, and Councillor Jimmy Eaton wrote a letter to Lancashire County Council regarding the Coronation fountain in Bacup.

The THI Board was seeking to confirm whether LCC would consider taking responsibility for annual maintenance costs if funding could be raised for the restoration of the fountain.

The following response has now been received from County Councillor Keith Iddon, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport:

Thank you for your letter of 13 July in relation to your request that the county council takes responsibility for annual maintenance costs associated with a possible restoration of the fountain in Bacup.

I am unable to be prescriptive given that no specific proposals are available to comment on, but would confirm that the county council is unlikely to take responsibility for and maintain a water feature at this location.

The county council would consider licensing a lighting feature and contributing to its maintenance, for example through paying for the energy costs, provided that such costs were modest.

Councillor Jackie Oakes has issued the following statement in response:

We have received a letter of clarification from Lancashire County Council in regard to the ex-fountain in Bacup. It is important that the centre piece looks attractive to complement the enhancements brought to the town centre by the THI project.

The Bacup THI Board will be holding a special meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the options available to refurbish the ex-fountain. As part of this process HLF will be contacted to see if these works can be funded as part of the project.