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The Telford & Wrekin Council-led campaign to lobby for
more than £90 million to halt land instability in the Ironbridge
Gorge area has taken a significant move forward.
The Council has today learned that this issue and the long-term
protection of the Gorge, one of the most important World Heritage
sites in the UK, has now been allocated to a single Government
department to lead.
The issue will come under the Department for Communities and
Local Government (DCLG), which the Council believes could help make
it easier to unlock the millions of pounds needed for the
Gorge.
Following this change, the Council is looking forward to
welcoming the Department's Joe Montgomery, Director General Regions
and Communities, who will visit the Gorge on a fact finding mission
on 10 June.
The issue had previously straddled a number of Government
departments, with no clear responsibility falling to any one of
them.
Council leader Andrew Eade said; "At long last we have a
significant step forward for the long-term protection of the
Gorge.
"While there is an awful lot more work we and our partners have
to do, having one lead department gives us the greater clarity and
continuity that, along with urgent action, we have been
demanding.
"We look forward to working with and building on our good links
with DCLG to help protect the long term future of the Gorge,
starting with Joe Montgomery's visit in June to meet us and see the
issues for himself.
"The importance of the Gorge, one of the region's top visitor
attractions, cannot be underestimated because every day that passes
with no further action the chances of land slippage grow."
The Council alone has already spent £5.5 million on this issue
and work has started on the second phase of its land stabilisation
programme in the Lloyds, supported by money from Advantage West
Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund.
In March, the Council wrote to Culture Media & Sport
Minister Margaret Hodge urging her to speed up the Government's
response to calls for help in stopping the risks of land
instability in the Gorge
area. |