News Councillors set for battle to save Lowther murals
The fight is on to save what one councillor is calling the ?genesis of Goole?.
As the Goole Times reported last week, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC)?s planning committee considered plans by Mitre Taverns Ltd to create 18 apartments and two town houses at the Lowther Hotel.
The hotel, which is the oldest public building in the town, dates from 1826 when the Aire and Calder Navigation company opened the Goole to Knottingley canal. The port and town was built up around it and the engineers and draftsmen involved stayed at the hotel, known then as the Banks Hotel.
Murals were painted on the walls of the hotel and East Riding and Goole Town councillors Eric Raddings and Jean Kitchen have launched a campaign to save two in particular.
?One mural covers a whole wall and shows the first days of the docks, and the other, which is an Aire and Calder plaque, is on the outside wall between two windows,? said Cllr Raddings.
He believes that the murals are of ?extreme importance? to the town and added: ?It was in a room on the first floor of the hotel that Goole was born - it is the genesis of Goole.?
He also pointed to the significance of the hotel being partly on Adam Street.
When planning committee members discussed the application on July 25, they heard that the two murals should be kept on view in a designated ?Murals Room?.
However, drawings show that the room would still be part of a flat and Cllr Raddings is worried that a protection order would not be enough to save them.
?Realistically, can you guarantee that no one is going to paint over them in 15 or 20 years?? he asked.
?They?re lovely old paintings but I don?t think I?d want them in my bedroom.?
He would prefer to see the room blocked off and used by the community and local interest groups.
?I don?t mind how it?s used, so long as the murals are preserved,? he said. ?It?s just one room in an 18-dwelling complex - surely they can give one up??
Cllr Raddings said he had the support of planning committee members and was also backed by the director of the Yorkshire Waterways Museum and Sobriety Project, Bob Watson, who said: ?It is absolutely vital that this mural is safeguarded.
?Anything that can be done to involve the community in looking after its heritage is a good thing,? he added.
An agent for Mitre Tavern Ltd, David Piercy, told the Goole Times that the company did not want to comment before the ERYC had made a final decision on the application, but said that giving the room to the town had been suggested.
There are three applications which relate to the hotel, which is a listed building, and these have been deferred until consultation responses from public protection and conservation officers are received.
Published on 3rd August 2006 in News.
Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit
Comments
There are currently no comments
Comment
All comments are subject to moderation (during normal office hours) and may be amended.
Email addresses are required for administration purposes only.
By contributing your comments, you accept our terms and conditions.