Vandals rip out new information board at Ferniehurst Dell, Baildon (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Vandals rip out new information board at Ferniehurst Dell, Baildon

9:00am Friday 1st March 2013 in News

Thoughtless vandals have torn a new information board out of the ground at historic beauty spot Ferniehurst Dell in Baildon.

The laminated sign is one of three newly-installed boards which carry details of the Dell’s history, nature and wildlife and was sunk deep into a concrete base.

“Whoever did this was somehow able to rip the board and its metal post right up out of the ground” said parish councillor Ian Lyons, a member of the Ferniehurst Dell Partnership who is behind a scheme to turn the wooded area into a military-themed sculpture park “Thankfully the sign board is made of strong stuff and it hasn’t been damaged in any way. It just needs to be put back into place, only this time we’ll plant it deeper and use quite a lot more concrete.”

Mr Lyons is in the final process of securing a £75,000 grant towards the sculpture park from the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

“It’s at the beaurocratic stage now which is all about filling forms and agreeing terms and conditions, but we’ll get there,” he said. Baildon Parish Council has agreed to donate £3,000 to the scheme, which has a total estimated cost of £142,000.

“When that gets up and running it will actually help cut instances of vandalism like the one this week,” Mr Lyons said.

“The more people use it the more they will keep an eye on things.”