Council to push on with ownership plans
ASHBOURNE Town Council has been asked to progress its formal agreement with Derbyshire Dales District Council over taking over ownership of the Green Man gallows sign and the Black’s Head.
Town councillors were due to meet last night, after the News Telegraph went to press, to confirm the terms agreed at a recent district council meeting, at which it was agreed to hand over the freehold, but with the caveat that the head must never go back up on the gallows sign.
To formalise this agreement, the new owners of the sign must apply for listed building consent to permanently remove the head, and part of this application will involve agreeing on where the head will be displayed.
It has been suggested by both councils that the head should be put on show in the new Ashbourne Historical Centre, in Ashbourne’s Town Hall, which is nearing completion.
Derbyshire Dales District Council wants it to be stored securely in a glass case, with appropriate wording next to it to explain its historic context.
The decision to permanently separate the head from the gallows sign will ultimately fall on the secretary of state, due to its Grade II star-listed status.
Derbyshire Dales District Council, which took on ownership after two local businessmen sought to pass it on to a public body more than 20 years ago, has also agreed to give it its first renovation since it fell into public ownership, at the district council’s cost, with any future maintenance costs becoming the responsibility of the town council.
The town councillors were due to discuss and agree on these terms at their meeting last night.