Blow for Dudley Zoo scheme as AWM rethinks £5m
Wednesday 29th September 2010, 11:30AM BST.
Advantage West Midlands has pulled the plug on £5 million pledged funding for Dudley Zoo’s long-anticipated transformation, it has emerged.
Bosses at the doomed regional development agency confirmed today cash it had committed to turn the Castle Hill site into a world class tourist attraction had been withdrawn.
The grant had been suspended earlier this year pending a review. The zoo and Dudley Council are now awaiting news on European money to bankroll the £10m scheme.
It is the latest delay to hit the long-term vision for the zoo. Plans to create a mini version of Cornwall’s Eden project, part of a bigger £100m leisure scheme for Castle Hill, collapsed at the end of 2008 when original developer St Modwen pulled out.
AWM stepped in to save the scheme but has now abandoned the project.
AWM spokeswoman Sheila MacDonald confirmed the zoo had missed out on AWM’s revised funding programme for 2010/11. It has been forced to review its spending for the next two years and is due to be axed in 2012.
Zoo chief executive Peter Suddock has been putting pressure on political leaders to secure money, saying the scheme is important to Dudley and the tourism industry.
Mr Suddock has remained bullish about the zoo’s ambitions, saying: “It is not a question of it we will get the money, but when.”
Profits for the year to December 31, 2009 were £95,000, up £81,000 on the previous year.
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Another Tory cut damaging the well being of our kids. For loads of kids a day at Dudley Zoo is an important part of their summer holidays.
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Isn’t it that AWM cost a lot of money and delivered negigible results.
All they did was redistribute funding to projects they deemed worthy.
For the most part those were projects in Birmingham (where their office was based) and they left the rest of the Midlands to rot.
In fact, Labour left the industrial heartland of the Midlands to rot for their entire 13 years in charge. The tories weren’t much better before that, but why didn’t Labour change things.
Because they only cared about their core supporter heartlands in S Wales, the NE and NW of England.
Advantage West Midlands wasted taxpayers money on their own pet projects. The state of Dudley, West Brom, Halesowen, Blackheath, Wolverhampton is testament to the long term mis-management and misallocation of funding on a massive scale.
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It really is a shame as it’s got so much potential. What’s doing my head in is all the Labour supporters moaning about how cuts are damaging blah blah blah. Considering it’s Labours fault we’re in such a mess, it’s a bit rich for them to complain. If Labour hadn’t wasted so much money we’d probably be getting through this recession better than we are now and the cuts wouldn’t be so bad. We can’t keep spending money we haven’t got, that’s what’s got us in this mess.
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Agree 100% mate
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This is sad news indeed. Dudley Zoo is one of those tourist attractions that does make a difference to local trade in and around Dudley. Any new investment that brings tourists from around the region has a knock on effect for others trading. From bus and coach companies through to the retail the food & drink industry.
I do hope that there will be a rethink of this decision as Dudley Zoo is still a good day out for families.
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