 Annual Report - 2004 / 2005
Chairman's review of the year to Spring 2005
The Civic Society is continuing to make a positive contribution to the life of the town. Our large membership and frequently visited web site ensures that we remain representative of the views of a considerable proportion of the town. We have a very large number of volunteers who deliver newsletters and come forward to help at events and we thank them all for their efforts. Our committee struggles through a huge agenda at every meeting and we have sub groups meeting to inspect planning applications, decide on Witchwood issues, and a new one undertaking a conservation areas assessment. There is also the very physical working party in the wood each week. Special groups are set up when necessary, as with the production of our book, or our forthcoming exhibition. Thank you to all those who take part, and remember - everyone is welcome. The publication of our book "The Listed Buildings of Lytham St.Annes" in December 2003 was a significant milestone in the history of our forty five year old society. It has sold steadily throughout 2004 -5 and is now showing a good profit. Several have been sent to the USA from where people were alerted to it via our web site. We have been concerned about the fate of St.Annes Town Hall for some time now. This fine building, the best of the Porritts' contribution to the architecture of the town is not, we accept, ideal for office use. It was built as the Southdown Hydro, with the very best of hand carved stone, decorative Minton tile work, cornices and fireplaces. Councillors over the years have been proud to invite their guests into its fine reception rooms, adorned of course with some of the art collection donated to the town. Now priorities are changing and to adapt the building to modern office needs would be expensive. While we can understand all this, we part company on the solutions proposed. We feel that our council has a duty to protect the heritage of our town, and not to destroy it for what can only be short-term financial gain. If the building has to be sold, it should be re-used, perhaps as a hotel once more. The council is set on its total demolition. This is institutional vandalism of the worst kind. So if the council demolishes its fine Town Hall - where are the ceremonial / entertainments functions of the council to take place? They did not want to have the Mayor's Parlour at Wesham it seems, so Lowther Pavilion was to be taken over. This, as you have read elsewhere, has been stopped after legal opinions have been obtained. We have received a number of donations throughout the year for which we are very grateful. Legacies and grants are forming a sizeable chunk of our income these days and enable us to carry out lots more projects than we would be otherwise be able to do. We can claim Gift Aid on them, and also on subscriptions. Please also think of us when making your will. One of our members Geoff Biggs, a local artist, has very generously donated £1,000 to the Society in memory of his partner Alastair McEwan. Geoff has also donated similar amounts to the Trinity Hospice in the Fylde and Lytham Heritage Centre - all from the proceeds of his paintings sold at his exhibition at Lytham Heritage Centre.
The LSP - Local Strategic Partnership This structure has been a few years in the making. LSP's are supposed to help deliver the Fylde Community Plan, and consist of a mix of members from all sectors of the community. We have a seat on the Environment Group, as do CPRE. We have been awarded a grant of £3000 from the LSP to pay our expenses in a voluntary review of conservation areas in the town, and looking at possible new ones. The money will also pay for an explanatory leaflet to be sent to residents.
The Civic Society and the Arts Many years ago the Civic society was involved in the setting up of Fylde Arts Association, and more recently we played a major part in the SAART campaign to retain the former St.Annes Technical College for community use as an arts centre. This concern for the cultural life of the town was one of the reasons for opposing the council's proposals to place their Civic Suite at Lowther Pavilion. Ominously, John Coombes, leader of the council, has said that Lowther "is in need or development", so we must be vigilant. On a more positive note, we were very pleased to once again host a recital by students of Barbara Robotham from the Royal Northern College of Music. Barbara herself sang for us too. Many thanks to her and her husband Eric.
We are sorry indeed that part of Ashton Gardens has now been sold for the development of apartments. The Ashton Institute is being demolished. Newfield Jones has closed the footpath from St George's Road. This is not the first part of the gardens to be sold off, but we must make sure it is the last. As the park has been designated as a charitable gift from Lord Ashton, it should now be under greater protection. An early example of the new requirements is that under charity law, any money raised from Fylde's planned sale of part of the Gardens will have to be re-invested in them and not used elsewhere. It will also have to be put into an interest-bearing fund for the benefit of the Gardens until it is spent.
Defend the Dunes Chairman's Report
2005 Don Moore We have kept a watching brief on this. The property has now been acquired by the Hurstwood Group who have recently completed much of the dune restoration work and clearance of the site surrounding the main building. The Dune Management Plan was published in May 2004. There has been no feedback on our comments. Restoration of the dunes damaged by sand extraction is scheduled in the Plan for completion by March, but nothing had been done by 6th April 2005. Letters of complaint have been sent to FBC, LCC and EN, and have been published in local newspapers. FBC applied for renewal of the licence to extract sand from the beach by the deadline in October 2004. Both Defend the Dunes and The Civic Society have responded to a request for consultation from the contractors.
The Civic Trust Our contacts with the Civic Trust have increased this year. Representatives of the group attended the national Civic Trust Awards ceremony at St George's Hall, Liverpool, with a tour of this wonderful building. We were also invited to the presentation of the Green Flag and Green Pennant awards at Preston Guild Hall. It was good to meet so many people committed to improving their towns. Committee member Malcolm Burnett has attended three Civic Trust "Pathfinder" weekends in Nottingham.
Membership Membership has continued to increase and we thank Barbara Salter for her hard work in processing applications. We finished the year at the end of April with 430 members. It saves a lot of administration if members will pay by banker's order, and saves you having to remember. The amount of money we can claim back via Gift Aid is well worth having and we would like to encourage all taxpayers to agree to us claiming it. For further details please contact the Treasurer.
This is about to be abandoned
by the police. We have endeavoured to bring the building to the
attention of the public during 2004 and there is great concern over
what will happen to it. In June we held the first ever musical production
in the Edwardian Court, a performance of "Trial by Jury"
by Marton Operatic Society followed by an excellent supper in the
Hewitt Rooms opposite. All went very well - in spite of the local
tramp pretending to be a volunteer, helping himself to a steward's
badge and tucking in to the singers' pre show sandwiches. Doesn't
say much for the dress code!
During the year I was fortunate to be able to attend, over three long weekends, the Civic Trust's Pathfinders programme, held in Nottingham and supported by English Heritage. The programme was ambitious and covered many of the issues, which are encountered by societies across the country. As well as learning from an excellent team of speakers we gained much from the other participants who came from diverse parts of the country, from Berwick on Tweed, Chester, Wakefield, Norwich, and many more. The first session was attended by most of the senior staff of the Civic Trust who explained their roles and ambitions and suggested ways we could utilise their resources and gain access to the experiences of other societies who may have dealt with a similar issue previously. They spoke a little of their own partnerships with government agencies and other public service organisations and what had been achieved. We had a detailed session with a professional consultant on funding and project planning. We learnt, from the Shrewsbury Society, that thinking outside the box can pay off as their very successful annual cartoon festival is not only, now, nationally well known but also brings in significant income. Outside the conference room we visited a variety of thought provoking projects in the area, which demonstrated not only what can work but also that enthusiasm, is no guarantee of success. When we regrouped in January we moved on to some practical issues of Urban Design and the challenges of planning permissions, which often seem to be processed by local authorities with more reference to efficiency than quality. The best towns do not get demolished they evolve. This subject is complex and involved but the very valid observation was made that the debate needs to go beyond the usual (often fruitless) argument on architectural style to one that engages in the structuring roles of each element of the urban fabric. We participated in a useful practical exercise with Nottingham's mix of the old and new, together with the significant social issues it has faced, providing a useful and interesting background. Later we experienced the Evening Economy, which has received notable interest from the press. All appeared well organised, with a significant but low-key police presence and an excellent public transport system, however we learnt the situation continues to be monitored. Our last meeting focussed on neighbourhoods, regeneration, and community in city suburbs with a lot of focus on participation by residents. Although we are fortunate, in our town, not to face the degree of challenges witnessed in Nottingham and related to us about a London suburb such issues as anti-social behaviour, environmental neglect, neighbourhood management, and the needs of youth and others needing support are nevertheless real almost everywhere. The opportunities for success with these and other matters are significantly improved if a feeling of community is developed and residents are prepared to be involved and become part of the solution rather the complaining from the sidelines. The overall programme was most useful both instructively and importantly in providing contacts and friends in the Civic Trust and the Civic Societies who attended. A recent issue of Civic Focus (The Civic Trust's magazine) stated 'Civic Societies attract like minded individuals who want to safeguard the good and encourage the best of the new in urban design, parks and the civic realm. They are local people who care passionately about where they live and fight to make it better.' Like most organisations the power of the Trust and The Civic Society is vested through members and their participation in activities. Please encourage as many people as you can to join both and help with the enormous amount of important work there is to be done
We continue to be affiliated to the Civic Trust, which is the national voice of amenity groups throughout the country. The Trust provides groups like ours with back up and contacts, as well as coordinating major enhancement projects nationwide. We also belong to the North West Association of Civic Trust Societies (nwacts), a much more recently formed organisation, and our president, Graeme Fallows, and Bill Thompson have attended their meetings this last year. A survey of the societies in the northwest identified their main concern as the control of development in conservation areas. To quote the nwacts newsletter, "poor development control is very often due to a combination of factors - lack of resources in local authorities, insufficient evidence with which to defend a refusal of planning permission or an appeal, and a general unwillingness to take enforcement action against unsympathetic alterations." With the help of a grant of £2500 from English Heritage northwest civic societies are collaborating with local government officers to collect data for appraisals and review conservation area boundaries. Nwacts is compiling a register of all 808 conservation areas in the northwest, together with a leaflet "Conservation Area Awareness". We will keep our members informed of progress - to quote nwacts chairman Stephen Langtree, "we want to make a difference". After two successful
autumn gatherings in Chester (2003) and Kendal (2004) the nwacts
meeting this year will be nearer to home, at Blackpool on October
29th/ 30th, hosted by Blackpool Civic Trust.
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COUNCIL We always seek a good working relationship with the Council through both elected representatives and officials and have developed some good partnerships over the years. There are sometimes areas where we disagree and this is both natural and healthy provided there is frank and timely discussion, with open minds on both sides. This year there have been several areas of significant disagreement both in specific planning issues and even more importantly in fundamental matters of principle. We do not believe that land or other facilities, gifted to the people, should be sold to property developers or used for purposes other than those intended. We will not support any further encroachment on Lytham Green and believe that our precious sand dunes should be restored and properly protected by every means including an immediate halt to sand extraction. We believe our views are representative and hope the Council will not ignore public opinion as was clearly expressed against proposals to develop Ashton Gardens, The Town Hall, and Lowther Gardens. The Civic Society will continue to fight for these and any other important issues until all avenues of redress are exhausted. In an effort to build understanding and dialogue we have recently had the first, of what is intended to be a regular, meeting with the most senior Council officials when several critical issues were openly debated and joint approaches to several positive programmes for the town discussed. We hope that all readers will always feel free to contact us regarding any matter which concerns them in the local environment but will also make their views known clearly to their elected officials whose job it is to represent them.
TREASURER'S REPORT - Dennis Leyland The accounts show a deficit of £1,240 in the Receipts and Payments Account, but this is relatively small considering the unusually high level of expenditure this year. The following comments primarily explain differences from the previous year. In the Receipts and Payments Account:- Witch Wood receipts include £2,064 as the remainder of the grant (£7,500) from the Lancashire CC Environmental Fund, £700 from the Green Partnership for removing certain trees and an £82 stage-payment of a Forestry Commission grant. Payments include £4,112 for resurfacing the path between Middle Bridge and the willows (not part of the Environmental Fund grant), £2,530 for the Information Boards (mostly covered by the grant), £1,135 for tree removal and £580 for a much-needed new shed. Not shown is £5,436 paid directly by the Environmental Fund administrators. Over the past two years expenditure on improvements to Witch Wood amounted to nearly £17,000. Donations received include two sums of £1,000, one being again from the John Slater Foundation and the other from Geoff Biggs following his successful exhibition at Lytham Heritage Centre in April. Dutton Forshaw gave £100 towards the cost of newsletters, and a collection at the meeting for discussion of Lowther Gardens raised £80. We are most grateful for the support. Subscriptions and donations paid include a carry-over of £150 from the previous year because of a delay in notification from the Civic Trust. Last year we had higher than usual payments, part in support of Defend the Dunes and including £1,000 towards repair of Lytham jetty. Events include £400 from the coffee morning, a £113 deficit for Trial by Jury at Lytham Magistrates Court but a surplus of £125 for the Robotham concert. The Listed Buildings of Lytham St Annes book continues to sell quite well, and we have sold or gifted 916 of the 1500 we had printed. The surplus on sales for this year is £1,042. We have now covered production costs and the overall surplus to date is £475. The printing costs for the book show in last year's accounts against 'Items for resale'. Miscellaneous expenses are notably higher than usual because of purchases: a digital camera (for building up a stock of local photographs and for aiding the digitising of existing pictures, eg. our collection of post cards), a second set of exhibition boards and a reprint of our joining leaflet. Bill Comstive has again undertaken audit of the accounts, and we are most grateful to him for taking on the task and for making constructive comments. We are grateful for the support of: * The Thomas Blasson
Foundation The Society has close links with: * The Local Strategic
Partnership For more information, see the following websites: Lytham St Annes Civic
Society www.lsacivic.org Views on our activities or on other happenings are always welcome.
The objects of the Society shall be to promote and encourage in Lytham St. Annes and the neighbourhood the following objects by charitable means but not otherwise: a) to maintain surveillance
of the town's development
Published by Lytham St. Annes Civic Society - Registered as a charity, No. 243629
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