Row over rival bids for statues in Llandudno boating lakeDec 8 2011
North Wales Weekly News
TWO different organisations are vying to put an attraction in the middle of a boating lake and one of them has suggested there is room in it for both structures.
But the suggestion has been vetoed by voluntary group Friends of West Shore which has already obtained funding to move Llandudno’s world famous White Rabbit statue to the middle of the lake.
The Friends are angry that rival organisation Llandudno Civic Council, which is also made up of volunteers, is seeking funding to erect a fountain.
“I’m flabbergasted that the Civic Council should be doing this. Surely they must know about our plans to put the White Rabbit in the middle of the lake which are already well advanced.
“They should have consulted us before getting involved in looking for funding for their own project. To suggest there is room for two structures in the lake is ridiculous,” complained Friends chairman, Margaret Lyon.
But David Hampson, press officer for the Civic Council, which holds monthly meetings to discuss issues in the resort, said it would forge ahead with its negotiations to get funding for an illuminated fountain.
He said the council, whose members are unelected, had approached Welsh Water and alternative energy company npower renewables for their backing for their project.
They hope to get a share of a community package being offered by npower to towns on the North Wales coast to offset the impact of the massive Gwynt y Mor off shore wind farm which is now under construction.
“There us no reason why we can’t have both the White Rabbit statue and a fountain in the lake. I’m glad that the Friends of the West Shore have taken the initiative to move the statue to protect it from vandalism, and they have the full support of the Civic Council in that. Maybe we’ll have to split the lake in half,” he suggested.
But Margaret Lyon, who is also a county councillor for the Gogarth ward described this suggestion as unrealistic.
“What the Civic Council seems to have forgotten is that the boating lake is county council property and the council’s consent is needed to put anything in it.
“As far as I’m aware the Civic Council has not sought this, in contrast with the Friends who have gone through the proper channels, and will shortly be seeking planning permission to move the White Rabbit to the middle of the lake,” she stressed.
http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/local-conwy-news/2011/12/08/row-over-rival-bids-for-statues-in-llandudno-boating-lake-55243-29912563/
