BACUP's fountain has been scrapped.
Rossendale Free Press
Updated 18:43, 1 MAR 2013
The master planning exercise which is currently being undertaken in Bacup and Stacksteads has meant no guarantees can be given for the future of the roundabout in the centre of St James Square, where the fountain was to be based, and so the promised £20,000 has been lost.
Doug Spencer, liaison officer with Bacup and District Chamber of Trade, has spent nearly two years working towards the project and is bitterly disappointed.
He said: 'I am close to tears, and for a man to say that is pathetic. I have put 20 months of my time into trying to make this happen. People have pledged money and now I am going to have to spend a lot of time refunding that cash.
'We could bid again for the money in February, but the masterplan will still not be ready and we still can't provide the guarantee that the fountain is going to be in place for eight years which is what the funders need.
'I have overcome every obstacle that has been placed in front of us. I blame Rossendale Council for this not happening, but it is me who will be blamed in Bacup because I am the person who has campaigned for it.'
A total of 843 people pledged their support for the scheme through petitions, a door to door survey and a phone poll in the Free Press.
Mr Spencer added: 'It is Rossendale Council officers who have done this, the unelected mandarins.'
He said he had never been invited to a consultation meeting even though the Bacup Consortium Trust made the project aware of the fountain plans.
Bacup councillor Peter Steen said: 'Until the masterplan has been agreed for Bacup and Stacksteads we cannot give any guarantees about what changes may or may not be made in the town centre.
'We want the fountain and it could be worked in with the masterplan for Bacup. We can't miss progress and we can't stop the masterplan and say everything has got to go round that spot, we have to see what is best way forward for Rossendale.
'We are not ruling anything in or out which is why everyone is being consulted and their views will be taken on board. It is just unfortunate that time is not on our side again. If the offer could be held until the masterplan is released we could get everything done.'
Doug urged residents who had signed the petition to call in at the neighbourhood office on Market Street next to the Nat West Bank and call for a fountain to be included in the masterplan.
The masterplan is being devised by consultants Halsall Lloyd Partnership working with local people. The plan will help shape the development of Bacup and Stacksteads over the next 15 years and hopefully help to secure millions of pounds to improve neighbourhoods through the Elevate scheme.
Bacup
Stacksteads