Globe Centre
 

Are you in Favour of the Council spending £30,000 on a sculpture/landscaping outside the Globe Centre?

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Yes, it's about time they spent a bit of money on making things look nice. Hope they don't mess up again like last time with the fountains though.

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Which idiot has just voted in favour? Come on, own up!

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Oh Hello Roy...did'nt realise it was you.....

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hehe, yup tis I - I also hope they get a bit more money and do some more gardening and nice things around the town.

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Do you think they would be spending £30,000 on a sculpture if their offices weren't next to it. I dont think so!!

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Forgot to add, where did they get the money? last I heard they were millions of £ in debt

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I hope whatever they put up is a lot better than the ones they put in Blackburn & Preston

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Hmmm... I am actually reconsidering my vote. I'm a bit unhappy that this 30,000 is not going towards the hollywood style accrington sign on the coppice or a UFO. Now if they said they would get the money for that AS WELL as this, I would be a happy chappy.

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I've no problem with the landscaping scheme...just keep it nice & simple. Nor do I have a problem with some form of vandal-proof artwork outside the building - providing that the ratepayer does'nt pay for it.....there are far greater priorities around Hyndburn - beginning with Broadway.

But I have a second objection to this scheme, as far as I understand it. The concept of the large wheel being taken from an otherwise complete (although in pieces) steam engine and dumped in concrete is no less than a crime of unwarrented vandalism of the first degree. That engine was left (more than 20 years ago) to the people of Church on condition it was displayed somewhere prominently in the town. I don't mind if it is to go elsewhere in Hynburn - BUT IT SHOULD REMAIN INTACT. I can only say the artist whose concept this is is a moron (the few artists I know would raise their hands in horror over this)...of course, it is possible this has been though up by a committee, which appears much more likely, given our present council.

We will be losing a major piece of our industrial heritage if this happens...it has to be stopped.

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ok, I obviously don't know the full story.. steam engine? 20 years ago? large wheel? the globe? 30,000? Putting all this together has made my head hurt... please explain more, i haven't read the observer or telegraph due to location! If they have got a steam engine then it certainly should be kept intact...

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The thumbnail is a similar engine - in this case, it used to be in a mill in Burnley. It now has pride of place inside the entrance of the Science Museum in London. Our Council - in all their infinite wisdom - have decided that, having obtained their "own" engine, they are now going to take the huge fly wheel and dump it in concrete outside their HQ; the rest of the machine will invariably be scrapped. Just to give you an indication of scale, each of the"spokes" on the wheel are about 8ft long

Do you not see now why this is madness?

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So, this 30,000 is making a sculpture/landscaping out of the flywheel from an old steamengine? Man, that is crazy. 30,000 on nice gardens fine. But plonking a piece of an old steam engine there is stupid. The steam engine should be plonked on the middle of the roundabout under the viaduct, as a complete unit and nice and high up like a statue. That would be a great centrepiece for good old industrial accy! :)

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My own opinion says assemble it somewhere along Dunkenhalgh Way/Hyndburn Road...so it stays in Church - as was the original bequest - and it has an impact for people driving into the town (this is the main route into Accy now).....that way, as a stranger entering the town for the first time, you get the first "wow" when you see the assembled engine and the second "wow" when you see the viaduct and drive round...the engine by the viaduct, togeather, could be to much of a distraction and possibly cause accidents.

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hehe, now you are thinking like a councillor. Stop that at once!

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If the council go ahead with this scheme, can we have another vote as to how soon it will take to be vandalised.The council just love wasting tax payers money, i'm still waiting for my council tax bill.Maybe the money they have saved there will pay for the new sculpture.

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Have you seen the artist's impression in this weeks Observer? It looks like one of the kids from the Junior League has done it!!! I do think that the site needs improving after the fountains - if only the council had put a bit of thought into that idea, it wouldn't need pulling up so soon after it was built. I certainly agree that Broadway is more of a priority at the moment.

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If you will pardon my intervention at this juncture, I have had a look at the "Engine" and in my humble opinion it appears to have several parts missing. For one thing there is no flywheel. The peices are behind the old Coach House/Stables up at Howarth Art Gallery and after twenty years in the open they are in a pretty sorry condition, what with rust and saplings growing round and through them. The flywheel could, of course, be inside the Coach House, but what would be the sense of putting some parts under cover and leaving the rest outdoors.

I agree with Roys initial argument that any cosmetic work has got to be a good thing. But the borough as a whole is in desperate need of such work. It strikes me that it always seems to be the council's comfort that comes top of the list when there is spare cash. In the last thirty years we have seen HBC move from the Town Hall's in various part of the borough to steadily grander accomodation, culminating in the new building attached to the Globe Centre. If the costs had not been so disproportionate and had the thing any chance at all of working we would now see HBC housed in a vast purpose built office complex on what was the site of Accy Colliery. They wasted £350,000 on feasability studies on that one.

And then what about the paving bricks fiasco in front of the Market Hall and Town. Hall? They spent god alone knows how much having the road laid with paving bricks and then allowed buses to continue using the road, resulting in considerable damage to the road surface. This then had to be taken up again and relaid with tarmac.

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why dont they just fill the fountain with soil & grow some nice flowers in there then THEY, THE POWERS THAT BE, can s-it & have their lunch there, oops spelling again,

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Having walked past the engine in question for many years it would be a sin if it were not to be rebuilt. Amazing how they can always find money for their pet projects ( like changing offices every few days/months/years ) but not for real worthy ones with good support. As usual they may consult but go ahead with their plans regardless treating "the public" with disdain.

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Bob has pointed out that the flywheel is missing ( I don't know..I've not been up that way for 35 years)....I'm just wondering how long that has been the case, whether it is indoors (somewhere), has been nicked or melted down or alternatively the process of creating this frankenstein sculpture is already under way.

I just despair of Hyndburn Council; this is just one more of an endless series of half-baked schemes whose only purpose appears to be that of spending the ratepayers cash. They certainly can't be considered an investment - those are supposed to last..and as for any current enjoyment the people of Hyndburn will get, then surely it would make more sense to spend it on a fireworks display. That way, yer money's going up in smoke but at least you get a few bangs.

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Probably go the same way as the monstrosity that the council called a clock .... that used to sit proudly in the Arndale centre, until "the council" in thier wisdom decided to get rid, I must admit it was not a sad day for me ( have always detested the thing), it would just make a nice change if Accrington.....ooops sorry........Hyndburn people were taken serious when we told them that we don't want our money spent on rubbish anymore...........or am I being unrealistic as usual.

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:) Personnally i am in favor of it as we where an industrail (speeling) town but now hardly have nothing to show off it and it is bein donated but i do recomend the the 'fountain' that doe'snt work and has green water is taken down as soon as poss. Did you complain When a 230,00 pound fountain was built and this is 8x cheaper.:)

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Firebug warning after blaze at hall

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In view of the number of properties and land in the borough and the country where the owners are unknown or cannot be found, would it not make sense to make it a legal reqiurement for either Solicitors or Estate Agents to register the change of ownership with a central body. Or is that what The Land Registry is for? The council also has the option to make a compulsory purchase order.

I agree that the council in this case appears to be shirking it's responsibility as a landowner. But then again, I also think that the Fire Brigade are overreacting, they do seem to have the habit of turning up with all engines whenever anyone strikes a match.
Speaking of the Fire Brigade, who are necessary and their brave lads do a very good job, why do they need to label all their appliances? For example, there is one I noticed the other day with 'INCIDENT SUPPORT UNIT' emblazoned along the side. Is that so they don't forget what it is for and take the wrong one out on a call by mistake?

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Well I think they should spend money on a statue / sculpture. It adds more to the area and makes it look pleasing which in turn will make more and more people pleased about the area and hopefully attract visitors (That's if it's a decent one).

I've just voted 'yes' (Sorry!)

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We need a few more specialist shops to attract visitors too - but the council have managed to run them all out of town! Don't know anyone that would visit a town just to see a sculpture?

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1. Give it to Nigel Rix, on condition that he goes away and never comes back.

2. Re-open Broadway to traffic.

3. Make all the Charity Shops pay Business Rates like everyone else.

4. Fund a public consultation exercise to find out what the people of the Borough really want.

how's that for starters??

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here is what they have decided to put up near the Globe

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thanks mick, tea your wish was our command he he he //

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Don't you just love it?

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They have not spent £30,000 a cog wheel have they?
pictures on page 2

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Can someone please let me know the name of a good Solicitor back in Accy? I need initial advice on launching a civil prosecution against those criminals and nincoompoops in the Globe Centre. Normally, I am certain that charges would be laid under criminal law, but as nothing is what it seems in "Alice in Wonderland Accy" we must seek the alternative. The Criminal Charges would be as follows:

1) Theft - namely, that of a Victorian Mill Steam Engine, bequethed to and the property of, the people of Church.

2) Wanton Vandalism - namely, the destruction of the said Engine (see exhibit 'a', currently stuck in concrete outside the Globe Centre.

3) Fraud - namely, the theft of almost thirty thousand quid from the ratepayers of Hyndburn, on the basis that this is what it "cost" to inflict this criminal damage (above).....the actual cost is obviously no more than twenty quid.

4) Embezzlement....see above. Where did the dosh really go?

5) High Treason....no evidence yet, but I've no doubt some will emerge.

All suggestions gratefully received.

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Looking at Mick's photographs I was struck by how oddly ironic this new public object and it's placing is. If one didn't know better, one could almost imagine that there is someone within HBC with some modicum of intelligence.

Ironic? Well, yes, think about it. We are taught that the prime function of art is to reflect and comment on the human condition. This object does that on quite a few levels.
It is a piece of a redundant steam engine, the very thing that made the industrial revolution possible, which, in turn, is the reason that Accrington grew from an insignificant hamlet to the teeming metropolis it is now.

It is sited in the heart of what was the industrial heart of Accrington. Adjacent to a redundant Colliery, a once important but now vanished Railway line and good's yard and also in front of what was once the premises of one of the towns major employers.
All gone. Only this thing remains to remind us of what we once had, of what we were once capable of doing. One meaningless, worthless, lump of cast iron that accidentally has come to represent more than a hundred and fifty years of struggle, hardship, perseverence and success.

And the council hijacks it so that they can have somewhere nice to have their sandwiches. If that isn't ironic I don't know what is. :(

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This is ridicuolous! It should stop here and now!

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Insanity most certainly.

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I don't think anybody on this site needs reminding of the insanity that has been carried out in the name of the population of Hyndburn during the last 30 years or so.
Apathy has lead all of us down this road, and I'm afraid things will not change; now or in the future.

I think we need devolution for Church & Oswaldtwistle!!

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>>Apathy has lead all of us down this road, and I'm afraid things will not change; now or in the future.<<

Isn't that a bit like saying "I would be apathetic, but I can't be bothered"?

People do need to be reminded of the excesses and irresponsibility of municipal authority. Perhaps if more of us were prepared to stand up and point out that the Emperor is swanning around in his birthday suit, then things might actually start to change. The only way these halfwits get away with it is because very few people think to take them to task on the issue.

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Exactly! Don't try to discourage a few of us at this stage. It only took one small child to say "He's not wearing any!" to give other people the courage to speak out.

Having said that, I will apparently be apathetic for 6 weeks or so from this coming weekend because we'll be spending the school holidays in our caravan in (sunny?) Carnforth.

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Sorry Bob & Will, I didn't want to sound off, nor do I think your efforts will be in vain.

Trying to correct the failures of over 30 years will be difficult if not impossible. But it doesn't mean nobody should try.

I think that if it is left to HBC we will waste more millions, and somebody has to remind them or even snap at their heels. A good opposition has its values.

Good luck to you....

In reality people just want to get on with their lives...and therefore apathy takes over.

I'm made of the same stuff as you both are, and currently I am fighting several battles with the Home Office, Inland Revenue(now there's a black hole), and the Minister for Veterans. So I too side with a worthy cause from time to time.

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i think it would be a good idea if they werent spending so much. i think they need to improve some other things. not put sculptures outside the globe centre

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what id like to know is, if the cog,wheel or whatever it is , was given to the people of church, will the people of church be benifiting from the said money that should have been spent on it to buy it ? will there be some tyding up done in church or has the money been squandere or pehaps "lost" yet again or has hbc pinched the cog from the church people ?

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Good point Mez...But Church is part of HBC.....so...........................What cost!

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I only just realised the cog has got its own little 'fence' around it. Is this to prevent vandalism? ;)

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oh i see theve finished installing it, dare we ask how long will it last///

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Yep....that'll keep the under-5s out (irreverent little kindergarten louts that they are)! Seriously I think the fence is just there to frame it - even the council aren't that dumb to think that they can stop someone from vandalising it if they wanted.

This is exactly what we are talking about when we get ****ed off at HBC. I mean....it does look impressive but......30 grand pur-lease!

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I like it as a focal point. But I can't that they spent 30 grand. Do we get a Plaque stating what, where and when? More importantly where the rest of it?

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Very good point there Doug - for all the uninitiated know they could think its a replica and not an actual original heritage piece.

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Putting aside the £30,000 I think it may well grow on me.

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If it did willow, you wouldn’t be able to stand up again...lol

Ok. I'm sorry.

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Probably not when you look at the size of the thing. :eek: