John Woodman of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust has been critical\u00a0of\u00a0Fleetwood Town\u00a0Council following their refusing to offer funding to support his plans to develop a new tram museum in the town. Although local Councillors have supported the project in principle, a recent request for \u00a33,500 to assist with moving the Trust’s collection of trams to a new storage site fell on deaf ears as it was not considered to be an appropriate use of tax payer’s money.<\/p>\n
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Plans are still being developed to display the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s preserved Blackpool trams at a new museum, close to the Fleetwood Ferry terminus of the Blackpool tram system. This will involve a Lottery bid in the region of \u00a3200,000 and it is hoped that such an attraction could open as early as next year. Earlier this year the Trust were required to move several of their trams from an industrial yard in Fleetwood, to a new secure compound, and the local Council were approached with a request to fund the transportation of these trams across the town. However, the request was turned down, leaving the group’s other supporters to foot the bill.<\/p>\n
Mr Woodman told the Fleetwood Weekly News: “Because of our current financial situation, we have had to rely on our own funds and the goodwill of local businesses. Companies such as Associated British Ports and Halsalls have been a huge help in allowing us to store trams for free on their land. However, Fleetwood Town Council rejected a request for three and a half thousand pounds, to help me move trams. I find it quite remarkable that a scheme like ours is being ignored”. He believes that the new museum would be a major boost to tourism in the town, and would generate new jobs for local residents.<\/p>\n
Fleetwood Councillor Terry Rogers was keen to defend the decision, stating: “I did not feel this scheme was at a sufficient stage to hand over so much public money. I would love to see a tram museum in Fleetwood and once he has secured Lottery money, we would reconsider.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently the FHLT own seven retired Blackpool trams, and are also the custodians of a privately owned Twin car\u00a0set. All of these trams are currently in outside storage, spread across four different locations in the area. Railcoach 678<\/strong>, Trailer 683<\/strong> and Balloons 710<\/strong> and 726<\/strong> were all recently moved to Fleetwood Fish Dock, leaving Jubilee car 761<\/strong> on the premises of Halsall Toys, Brush car 290<\/strong>\u00a0on display near\u00a0the Pleasure Beach, and Brush car 621<\/strong>, Centenary car 641<\/strong> and Towing car 671<\/strong> all at Kirkham Prison. The majority of these trams have now been in outside storage for well over a year, although 621<\/strong> was initially housed undercover until April this year, when it was moved outside at the prison’s request, as recently confirmed by Mr Woodman. It is intended to move the entire collection to the docks this summer, with the exception of 290<\/strong> which should join them after the 2013 illuminations, although it is not known whether the required finance to fund these moves has already\u00a0been found.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Woodman of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust has been critical\u00a0of\u00a0Fleetwood Town\u00a0Council following their refusing to offer funding to support his plans to develop a new tram museum in the town. Although local Councillors have supported the project in principle, … Continue reading