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A TALE OF SHIPLEY GLEN: THE MIKE SHORT INTERVIEW (PART 3) Interview by Gary Radice Article: Added November 2003 |
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So is it true that the landowner
has recently tried to demolish The Aerial Glide?
On 3 November 2003, I spent most of the day
giving interviews to the newspapers and radio stations.
On 4 November 2003 the local paper
carried a big splash (though in early editions they headed the article with a large photograph of the ‘Aerial Flight’
that had been demolished in 1920!)
At about 15.30hrs that day, I was working
on the campaign when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a cutting disc slicing through steel. I hurried across the road
and saw to my horror that the owner was up a ladder cutting into a tower.
I quickly realised that two thirds of
the suspensory rail had gone and the car recovery motor, pulley and belts had too. (The cars had already been taken
down and the signage had been removed but that was normal for winter maintenance.)
I can’t say too much about what happened
in case there is legal action but I will say that after unsuccessfully pleading with him to stop, I had no option other than
to call the police and local authority officers.
What now?
I wish I knew.
I have been trying to find
out for over two weeks what the local authority’s intentions are and if they will serve a listed buildings enforcement
notice both to prevent further acts of vandalism by the landowner and to force restoration by him.
I have to say, somewhat bitterly, that the
two Local Authority officers I have had to deal with have been as useful as chocolate teapots!
I don’t want to say more about that
because I am hoping that more senior officers may yet take the issue seriously. If I can’t get an answer then
it’s gloves off and I shall be going back to the press.
Mike, what has been the reaction from the local
press regarding your campaign?
The local press have been brilliant throughout. They know of the importance of the Pleasure Grounds and the whole area to the people of Bradford and they have truly reflected public feeling.
There was one unexpected spin-off.
The Tramway is on land leased from the local
authority. At the time our campaign started, the Tramway operator was Mick Leak who had spent most of his life savings
keeping the Tramway going. In the year of the foot and mouth crisis, the Glen had been closed and the Tramway and Pleasure
grounds had been badly hit.
Mick had been warning for a long time that
he couldn’t keep going much longer and he had now decided that 2002 had to be his last year.
That story was picked up by the Telegraph
and Argus as they ran ours.
The two stories were a huge embarrassment
to the Local Authority since they had entered Bradford as a contender for European city of Culture and the Shipley Glen area
had featured in their application.
The press attention to our campaign and the plight of the Tramway has resulted in a large increase in numbers of visitors but I have no idea how many there are a year.
It did highlight, though, that sustained
marketing and publicity would boost numbers permanently.
How
confident are you that the ride and park will be
saved?
I can’t be confident
but listed building status does mean that a whole new set of protections are in place and the landowner would have to
apply for listed building consent if he wanted to demolish the ride or build houses on the site and he would have to go through
many more hoops than he would if the ride had not been listed.
That wouldn’t stop him
just closing the pleasure grounds out of pure bloody-mindedness though.
He has claimed that ride is
in such a bad condition and that it would cost GBP50,000 to restore it.
That, like other things he has said,
is very difficult to believe.
Have you or anyone else linked to the campaign
had any contacts with the owner recently?
Mr Teale is my neighbour and I used to have good relationships with him and I see him or pass him every week.
In the early days of the campaign, he did
launch a verbal tirade on a campaigner but, thankfully, that hasn’t been repeated. I am afraid he wouldn’t
want to talk to us.
For my part, I would like to explain to
him that listing means that he is eligible for grants to help restore the ride and we will support any application.
We would also like to work with him and
the Tramway Trust to try and get a more meaningful commitment from the Local Authority to regenerate and publicise the area.
We would do what we could to help him find
a buyer for the site (as a going amusement park) and his house if he wants to sell up.
Is there a danger that owners of vintage
rides elsewhere may be spurred on by this to get rid of their own rides before similar campaigns stop them from selling up?
I really don’t know; this isn’t an
area I know much about.
I will say, though,
that my limited experience of showmen is that I have found them to be hugely conscious, knowledgeable and respectful of amusement
park heritage.
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