The future of one rarest type of Edwardian bandstands in the UK, which was due to be demolished by a local council, could well have been secured thanks to the intervention of local people.
4BR reported on the story in August 2019 ( https://www.4barsrest.com/news/38233/historic-bandstand-in-danger-of-demolition) which saw the bandstand in Centre Vale Park, Todmorden, West Yorkshire faced with demolition as it had been out of community use for over a decade.
Listed status
However, thanks to the hard work of the Save Our Bandstand (SOB) group, an application to Historic England was made to get it listed — a task made much more difficult as Calderdale Council had reportedly stated that it wasn't eligible due to the current structure being a replica — rebuilt after a fire in 1999.
Thankfully though the application process passed through various stringent stages, and in December it gained Grade 2 listed status. The next stage saw the group undertake a business plan to initiate a suitable case for a Community Asset Transfer.
Rare
Speaking about the news, spokesperson Margaret Davies told 4BR: "It transpires that only 16 of this type of bandstand were ever built, and this is one of only six that was designed with additional acoustic provision to project the sound of bands into the park."
She added: "Listing doesn't mean that Calderdale has to repair it, but they do seem to be interested in the transfer process. They now have until the end of March before a decision is made to decide if the SOB group can take this on."
Margaret revealed that there may be potential funding through the new Stronger Towns Fund which could see Todmorden eligible for part of £12.5 million pounds of funding.
Up in air
"Everything is up in the air at the moment, but it is good news,"she added. "The current Todmorden Town Council, whose predecessors commissioned the bandstand in 1914, is unwilling to have anything to do with the bandstand as they are concerned about the future costs.
However, we know that local people support the case to save such an important community asset. We understand that the Council has other responsibilities of course, but we hope they could support the proposal to save the bandstand and support the group trying to save it."
Listing doesn't mean that Calderdale has to repair it, but they do seem to be interested in the transfer process. They now have until the end of March before a decision is made to decide if the SOB group can take this onSOB Group
Help
Looking to the next step in the process, Margaret added: "The biggest problem for the business plan is proving that once repaired, it will be self funding as it hasn't been used for about 10 years. In the Historic England report it states that the main reason for its poor state is simply a lack of maintenance.
None of our group has great brass banding experience and so if there is anyone out there that understands and can help us make sure it can have a vibrant future we would be delighted to hear from them."
Contact:
Contact: todmordencommunitybandstand@gmail.com
The Historic England's report can be found at. http://services.historicengland.org.uk/webfiles/GetFiles.aspx?av=C561BF7F-527D-4A17-9A45-FE605700DF3B&cn=A65F3391-D6C8-4F21-BC37-261854338982
