Ormskirk's feature pagoda looks set for demolition after all six Labour councillors, none representing Ormskirk, voted in favour at the Executive Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday evening.

The Labour cabinet are now expected to rubber stamp its removal from Wheatsheaf Walk, prompting an angry response from OWL's Adrian Owens.

As the only councillor representing an Ormskirk ward on the committee he said this afternoon: "I voted against the removal of the pagoda.

"There are arguments both ways, but our argument is that given the public outcry about the decision to remove the pagoda in isolation and not as part of a comprehensive improvement scheme, it was right to halt and carry out another consultation that engaged local residents.

"The council consultation last summer clearly failed to get a representative view. It received only 28 responses, yet over a thousand expressed an opinion in a poll just two weeks ago with over 90% opposed to the removal of the pagoda at this time on the Ormskirk Live FB pages. Labour chose to ignore those views on Thursday night."

Our West Lancashire Knowsley ward spokesman, Neil Pye, himself a former Labour councillor said, “The Skelmersdale-centric Labour Group has shown itself to be both out of touch and out of step with the majority of people in Ormskirk who want to keep the Pagoda.

"When a council does not listen to residents, it is doomed to fail.”

Folk are pictured sheltering in the pagoda mid morning today dodging heavy showers.

i suggested a few times to use it as a stall for traders
the cost of putting a low wall round it as a counter would be a fraction of the cost to remove it (and would be clawed back by charging a small fee for using it daily )
then you place a counter top on the wall and you could have a stall seloing cakes or flowers or many other things ? even a pop up summer cocktail / pimms bar
a cost of £20 a day would bring in £7300 a year revenue and could pay for impovments in the town centre or to fund events