Icy blast ‘takes shine off Halo’
THE Valley may have been spared the worst excesses of Storm Darcy this week - but it’s still been bitterly cold and wintry with yet more snow around the area.
And there were claims this week that the prolonged cold snap had taken its toll on one Valley landmark overlooking Haslingden.
Rossendale council said they are now working to bring the Halo’s lighting back up to its full 100 per cent effect.
In a statement on its Facebook page, a council spokesperson said: “Because of the bad weather over this winter period and the general wear and tear, the lighting on the halo has seriously deteriorated.” They added that “financial and weather restrictions” could mean the job will take several weeks.
Council leader Alyson Barnes played down the impact of weather conditions, saying it was probably just the “life cycle” of the bulbs. The glowing Panopticon sculpture was unveiled in September 2007 by Mid Pennine Arts as part of a series of landmarks on hills around East Lancashire.
In September 2013, the council installed 650 new blue LED bulbs at the tourist attraction - at a cost of £28,500. The bulbs were funded by Section 106 money given to the council to improve the local area by developers as part of planning agreements.
Coun Barnes said: “It costs a fortune to renew the bulbs. I’ve had it reported to me that a number of the bulbs are out, and we are looking to renew them again - which is an ongoing commitment. My genuine feeling is it’s a tourist attraction and we are trying to do much more around getting visitors into the Valley. It is important in my view that it looks its best; there isn’t anything worse when you’ve got that kind of facility and when there’s bulbs out it looks shoddy and uncared for.”
The leader said they could certainly make better use of the attraction with improved signage, and said that would be part of their new tourism strategy. The freezing February weather is forecast to linger until the end of the weekend, before beginning to warm up slightly into next week.