It is always worthwhile in any campaign to receive support from people who take the time to write and voice their feelings.

So it was with interest that I read the letter from Alan Fletcher in last week’s Bury Times. I too was present at the same Bury West local area partnership meeting and can only agree with Mr Fletcher’s observations that no one showed any objections in any way to the new Fusilier Museum opening in the centre of Bury.

Objections were raised very strongly when discussion took place regarding the re-siting of the Lutyens Memorial from its barracks home on Bolton Road to Sparrow Park, the ‘Cultural Centre’ of Bury as it is known.

Mr Fletcher’s letter also reiterated the many points we have repeatedly raised in our objections to moving the memorial to Sparrow Park.

The guest speakers on behalf of the Museum project, Major Gartside and Rosemary Allen, confirmed what we already suspected, that the moving of the memorial is a commercial decision and not because it will be better sited in Sparrow Park outside the new museum.

It is worth mentioning the investment from Bury Council which supports the argument in Alan Fletcher’s letter that the public of Bury have a voice in the matter of where the memorial should be sited. Figures show that almost £400,000 has been donated to the museum project by Bury Council. Of this a quarter of a million pounds was money received from the sale of the Lowry from Bury Art Gallery.

At the time, the people of Bury were told the selling of the Lowry painting was to maintain services and balance the books. Donating £250,000 to the Fusilier project is hardly maintaining services or balancing the books. When the town’s art gallery loss was reported on television, the present leader of the council, Councillor Bibby, when interviewed said that the council was ‘selling the family silver’.

If the ‘family silver’ is sold, then the benefit should go to the people of Bury and not a private museum project. It may also be worth asking the question, if the arts and crafts building was to be rented to commercial businesses, how much rent would they pay Bury Council, thereby helping to balance the books? One other point worth mentioning is that Bury Council is only charging the Fusiliers a ‘peppercorn rent’ of £1 per year for the arts and crafts building. This again is beneficial to the new museum and the public of Bury once again lose money if a ‘next to nothing’ rent is all that is collected. Surely then, the donating of council taxpayers’ money allows the people of Bury to have a voice in regard to this project.

We urge the trustees of the Fusiliers project, the MOD and Bury Council to consider all these points, as well as all the points in other letters written in support of keeping the Lutyens memorial on its present site, (especially the number of ashes scattered there and the history that will disappear if nothing remains on Bolton Road) and if the will is there on their behalf, an agreement can be reached to save the memorial on the barracks site of Bolton Road.

Anyone wishing to support the campaign to keep the memorial on Bolton Road will be made most welcome at our next meeting on Wednesday, October 8 in the Centenary Hall of St Stephen’s, Belbeck Street, Bolton Road commencing at 7.30p.m.

John Nally Chairman Save The Memorial Campaign