See all the monkeys they're scritch-scritch scratchin'

"See all the monkeys they're scritch-scritch scratchin' - Jumpin' around and scritch-scritch scratchin' - Hangin' by the long-tail (huff huff huff). And we can stay all day!" Now you're thinking "ZOO", yes? Wrong! – It’s a council planning committee meeting.

Firstly, let me offer my congratulations to David Gill and his team on their victory over the planning nonsense that saw the expansion plans for the South Lakes Animal Park delayed.

In an area blighted by the decline in heavy manufacturing industries, we should be embracing any scheme that offers diversification for both this and future generations. Instead, the local council seem to be on a mission to deter this entrepreneur despite his continued success. I really do wonder what they are thinking and how, as elected representatives, they believe they have a mandate from the local population to go to war with this guy at every opportunity.

Now look back a little while into our history.

The Furness forefathers stand proudly atop plinths at various locations throughout this borough. Ramsden, Cavendish, Schneider. Men of great vision, passion, drive and determination - they built the foundations of the Furness area. I cannot imagine a time when any councillor, mayor or official will ever be held in such high regard again.

When the death knells of heavy industry began to echo through Furness in the 1990s, the councillors and officials began to make noises and sound-bites to please the electorate, but nothing more, no vision, no master plan for the future. The “D” word (Diversification) was nothing more than a buzz word banded about the corridors of power in the Town Hall, said in passing to one another in the hope that using the word would be enough to save the area.

One man bucked this trend. This man however was not an elected representative, not an official, not bound in mayoral chains- just a regular guy. A man exhibiting something those others lacked.

Drive, Determination, Ambition.

A man with a plan. A man who got off his own backside and actually did something. A renegade some may say? But I wonder how many times Schneider, Ramsden and Cavendish were also given that moniker? A man frustrated by red-tape and a system that throttles innovation – if the council shared his vision then the barriers could be removed or reduced.

Since he opened, the park has won the “Top Attraction for Excellence in the Lake District” award five times and is one of the most visited attractions in Cumbria. The council should be embracing this facility, with the plans to treble the size of the park then it will become the BIGGEST crowd puller in Cumbria and bring much needed revenue into a depressed area.

They should be working with David Gill, looking at his business model and learning the secrets of his success story so that they may be shared with others, we could have a vision that would re-model the area as a tourist destination and finally drag us away from hanging on to yesteryears “Shipbuilders to the World” strap-line.

David Gill may yet have the last laugh- maybe one day will see another statue to someone who has actually made a huge contribution to the area.