Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will be asked to put their question(s) to the respective Executive Member(s). Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one supplementary question within his/her allocated 3 minutes.
Minutes:
Three questions were received from members of the public. These were read out by the members of the public and the detail is set out below.
Question one: Mick Finan, Wheelton and Rural District Royal British Legion.
One major concern is the apparent inflexibility by representatives from Chorley Remembers concerning this project.
Certain members are obsessed with the removal of the current memorial stones at the Cenotaph, in particular the Falklands Stone.
These stones have been placed in the park after consultation with past council representatives and have served the town and the wider community well.
Why then is there the need to remove them in preference to the new stones commemorating the fallen of two wars. There is ample space at the Cenotaph to accommodate this new project without impacting on the current memorial stones. The conduct of some members of Chorley Remembers has been offensive and uncalled for. This has lead to upset and anger amongst the service community and has been to the detriment of Chorley. The offer to give the Falklands Stone away (back to Wales or the Welsh Guards is totally inappropriate and shameful.) This was made abundantly clear by the lack of representatives from the Household Division who normally support the Falklands Parade but were noticeable by their absence this year.
I would also like to bring to the committee’s attention that in the past, council representatives and the towns MP have given undertakings that the stones, in particular the Falklands Stone WAS NOT GOING ANYWHERE. These promises have been made to veterans and especially those members of the South Atlantic Medal Association.
I would ask the Executive Committee to carefully consider these proposals and the negative impact that could occur. Alternative proposals have been submitted but have been dismissed out of hand we ask that further consideration be given and if necessary full consultation between ALL interested parties.
Question two: Jim McAuley, Chorley Royal British Legion.
Chorley RBL would like to ask why the Chorley Remembers project has failed in the remit as directed by the council to enter into consultation with all interested parties as to the redevelopment of the Cenotaph area in Astley Park, namely ourselves, RAFA, SAMA. Royal Naval ass., Parachute Regimental Ass. Despite numerous invitations to attend Committee or extra ordinary meetings of Chorley Branch Royal British Legion to discuss their proposals, all approaches have been ignored. We have only been included in an initial briefing meeting and then a presentation of plans - which completely disregarded any suggestions that had been put forward by ourselves or other organisations.
We would like to ask how this proposal can claim to be representative of the fallen servicemen of Chorley borough when the local branch of the primary organisation with responsibility for the forces has been excluded and disregarded at every opportunity, and along with all other service organisations would appear to be being handed a fait accomplit of what the Chorley Remembers project wants, not as a result of a consultation process.
Matthew Hansford on behalf of Mr Iddon, SAMA veteran and rep on behalf of Steve Kay SAMA Northwest and RBLR Northwest Rep
Thank you very much for taking the time to hear my questions on behalf of the South Atlantic Medal Association and the Royal British Legion Riders Branch.
After the initial news report in the Chorley Guardian a meeting with the RBL Chorley, RBLR, And SAMA 82 was arranged through Chorley Council with regards to the movement of the Falklands Memorial stone by Chorley Remembers at this meeting we where all assured that the movement of the stone was not happening and certainly not without consultation with all relevant parties and that we would be informed and included with any discussions to this end why is it that I have to find out about this meeting through a third party and all pervious meeting with regards to this matter the SAMA has never been included in any discussion regarding this matter.
The proposed alternative plans that where rejected where perfectly acceptable to us Can you answer why the SAMA where not included in these discussions and why we have not been kept informed further to that have the Keville family been informed of this meeting and the proposed plans as well.