So, another whitewash then, Uncle Mick? In answer to cjay and Purplelass; it would seem to stand to reason that the people involved in bringing this project forward would want to convince the people of Accrington of the potential positive benefits accruing to the borough if it were to be implemented. They do this for exactly the same reason that they would not explain the potential pitfalls; which is, namely, that they stand to benefit from the project.
The Architect, Chris Beard, has, to my knowledge, never yet completed a project. You may imagine that his fee from NWRDA will substantially improve his salary as a lecturer. The project will also allow him to enter other competitions, something he seems to do a lot of, and stand a better chance of winning.
Gayle Knight would look a very sorry Marketing Person if she could not market this!
HBC, well, they know nothing about anything and even less about aesthetics. They are strapped for cash with an election in the offing, they will grasp at any straw that is offered to ensure that they are seen as backing the popular decision, whatever that turns out to be.
So at the two meetings you were given the hard sell, wrapped in the charm offensive, and you swallowed it, as you were meant to do. But because you allowed them to blind you with tales of hundreds of thousands of pounds of extra funding and a place on the tourist map, you missed what they did not tell you.
First and foremost is that Accrington is already on the map and has been for quite some time. It's name is known all over the world. How much more famous do you want us to be? The prospect of additional funding is by no means certain, because it is conditional. I strongly suspect that we fall far short of the criteria that would open the coffers for Accrington. The one new aspect of funding is that English Heritage may be prepared to finance the repair of the Peel Memorial. If they were going to do that they would do it irrespective of whether there was a panopticon nearby.
It strikes me that HBC do not know the first thing about raising external funding, which is why so many schemes come to nothing. There is no reason on earth why English Heritage could not have been approached for the money to repair a great many things in the borough - years ago! Likewise the Heritage Memorial Fund, which was set up precisely to finance such repairs.
It cannot be escaped that whatever the final designs for this Panopticon turn out to be, art, it is not. It is landscaping, nothing more, and while the landscape designs of Capability Brown may bring tourists to this country from all over the world, I am reasonably certain that the landscape designs of Chris Beard will attract very few and will be almost instantly forgotten. The landscaping will fall victim to lack of funding and will fall into neglect amd will become an adventure playground for off road bikers. the paths will be churned to mud because horseriders will make a beeline for the area and within five years the place will look much the same as it does now and we will be arguing about another hare-brained scheme to regenerate previous failed regeneration efforts.
