A commemorative beacon honouring the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee could be constructed in a Derbyshire park.
The 5.6-metre tall beacon could be erected in the Fishpond Meadows Playing Fields off Park Road, next to the Henmore Brook and an existing pathway.
This comes around six months after Ashbourne Town Council had its first proposed spot for the £10,000 beacon rejected.
It had proposed a site at the junction with Windmill Lane and Ashbourne Green but Derbyshire Dales district councillors felt this plot was too far away – a mile out of town – and were concerned at the lack of parking facilities.
Concerns were also raised about the fire risk the beacon posed on surrounding grassland.
The new chosen site is also on a grassy field and near trees, but is close to the Henmore Brook and parking facilities at the district council’s Fishpond Meadows car park and sits squarely in the town centre.
A report submitted with the application says: “The Beacon will only be lit for Royal ceremonial events/occasions, ie the coronation/Jubilee events.”
It says the beacon is expected to last for 100 years.
The report says the beacon would comprise a three-metre-high steel mast, with a large basket fixed on top – totalling 5.6 metres – with the structure secured two metres into the ground with a concrete foundation.
At the September 22 district council planning meeting at which the previous plans were rejected, Cllr Stuart Lees, an Ashbourne councillor and a former firefighter, said that while the beacon was a “wonderful idea”, the chosen proposed location was not right.
Meanwhile, Cllr Garry Purdy, leader of the council, said: “It is a fantastic idea and it should come to fruition but I do feel like it is in the wrong place, I’d like to see it in a position where people can walk, otherwise you are going to be calling lots of cars up to that vicinity and creating a bit of traffic hazard.”
District council officers had detailed: “The development would introduce a vertical structure adjacent to highways. This could potentially introduce a risk of collision for highway users. Smoke from the beacon would also have the potential to reduce visibility for highway users, particularly during foggy conditions.”
