The end for the ‘Big Screen’ in Hull

It looks like it’s about to bite the dust. Gone. Out of our sight forever. As quickly as it came into our lives, it seems as if it is going to depart as speedily. The ‘Big Screen’  in Hull has been a source of debate since it was installed in 2004. I have always thought it looked like an enormous version of a television set people all over the country were throwing out to upgrade to a newer model. Aesthetically it is a carbuncle on the face of Queen Victoria Square. It could have been placed in a better location and it could have looked better, but alas our former Labour masters thought differently, if indeed they ever thought about it at all. The decision was made in haste in the Guildhall equivalent of smoke filled rooms. 

Now we are told it is going to cost £250,000 to run over the next three years and this – according to our Liberal Democrat masters – is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. True, it has always been an expensive folly. Labour councillors  seemed to be drawn into thinking Hull could somehow become Manchester with this monstrosity blasting out Look North around Queen Victoria Square, but I do have a problem.

Where is this television set, set for? Is it about to go to the technological graveyard in the sky, or is it going to be looked after in a benevolent council warehouse? Can it be resurrected at a future date, or has it already passed its use-by date? So much taxpayers’ money has been wasted thus far. It is a thorn in the side for the LibDems. A problem inherited from the former ruling Labour group’s profligacy. One can only hope that in the future Hull can move technologically forward in a planned and constructive way. As the UK faces bankruptcy thanks to national Labour profligacy, hope is all we have.