Beacon has the go-ahead but it’s worth thinking again about location

IN a week or two’s time, we’ll know whether Ashbourne Town Council is going to get planning consent to place their jubilee beacon on a hillside just outside Ashbourne.

They have always responded to calls to place it in the town centre with “we want to wait and see what the planners say”. Well, it now looks like the planners can’t find a problem with it.

And if the planners can’t find a problem with it, then it’s unlikely the committee will have a reason to turn it down.

But will the town council follow through with the plan? Will they go for their original but flawed idea of siting the beacon on a hillside, away from the town centre, or will they consider the wishes of everyone who’s spoken up and look at town centre locations instead?

Given they will have spent a tidy sum on architect’s drawings and then a planning application, they may choose to just go ahead and pop it on The Punch. But that would be a shame.

It’s out of the way there, it’s arguably a road safety hazard, it’s not high enough to be considered as part of the official beacon trail, let alone seen by anyone in the town, and there’s nowhere to park if we ever fancy gathering around it.

The logical place is, as many have said, in the town centre.

But there seemed little appetite for that in the last council meeting and, now it looks like planning permission may be granted, it will be a surprise if anywhere else is looked into – unless town councillors have a change of heart, and they listen to what the public wants. Or at least get out there and ask them.

What a refreshing change that would be.