Big wheel rolls into town on Tuesday
WORK on Stratford-upon-Avon's big wheel will begin on Tuesday after contractors put back construction of the wheel by one day.
The timetable for its construction was set out earlier this week by the man who runs the company that will operate it.
Jan de Koning, director of de Koning Leisure Group Ltd, said early on Tuesday morning, engineers will move into position on the Recreation Ground and begin a three-day construction project which will see the 35-metre, 144-seater wheel turning by Saturday, 1st April.
It will be the same one that was used in Leicester city centre during Christmas 2016 and 2015, and cost £1million.
Mr de Koning said he was glad to get the wheel up and running but added that it hadn’t been an easy ride.
“It’s been hard work. We had hoped to have the wheel in place last Easter but that wasn’t possible,” he told the Herald.
“Stratford’s big wheel is a new piece of kit which we’ve had since 2015. It was so popular in Leicester they asked us to come back again.”
But the wheel continues to divide opinion in town. Some say it would be a welcome change to all things Shakespeare, others believe it makes Stratford look ‘tacky’.
A spokesperson for Stratford District Council this week responded: “Firstly, the cabinet had to make a decision as landowner as to whether it was willing to allow the wheel on the site in principle, subject to planning permission being granted.
“Having considered the options, the cabinet agreed to this and authorised the procurement process and the selection of a preferred contractor, again subject to planning permission. The successful bidder then applied for planning permission and the planning committee granted the application.
“The decision of the cabinet and the decision of the planning committee are entirely separate from one another and based on entirely different legal principles.
“The cabinet’s decision was based on the fact that it is the landowner.
“The decision of the planning committee was taken in its role as the Local Planning Authority.”
Follow the big wheel's story on the Herald website this week.
