Worried residents in St Georges have contacted the Gower Heritage and Enterprise Foundation because they are alarmed by a leaflet promoted by local candidates of Telford Conservative Association stating The Gower “is still unused to this day”. It goes on to threaten they will “take ownership of the
project”.
The leaflet, delivered to households in the St Georges area of Telford, seeks to gain votes in the run up to local elections on 2nd May and flies in the face of the fact that the historic building is in regular use by the community. Stephen Handley, volunteer events coordinator at The Gower said, “We’ve had literally
hundreds of people turn up to our events all year round so it’s surprising that they claim it’s not being used. In fact, at the St Georges Family Fun Day event run in conjunction with the St Georges Partnership, on Saturday 20th April at The Gower, we welcomed over 500 people from the local community and surrounding areas including Madeley, Stirchley, Oakengates, Newport and Birmingham. People had a great time and saw for themselves the progress
made by the charity.”
Managed by a group of committed volunteers and featured among 50 buildings selected as part of the Telford 50 legacy programme, it is one of Telford’s favourite buildings nominated by local residents and organisations. Chair of Trustees for the charity and the Project Management Group said, “It’s a slap in the face for our hard-working volunteers who are giving up their time to maintain the building and grounds and raise funds. Thousands of hours have gone in and for them to turn around and say nothing’s happening and to represent plans already in place with misleading comments throughout their campaign is not only disappointing but offensive.
“I’d like to make it clear to everyone who continues to help and support this project, we greatly value your efforts and to completely ignore that leaflet. We’ve come too far to have this project hijacked for political ends. We’re not taken in by politicians’ promises or guarantees.”
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