THERE might not be many bums on seats for the traditional Festival of Folk finale in Holmfirth this year – because the seats have gone.

The annual climax to the renowned Holmfirth Festival of Folk, traditionally centred around the stone auditorium in Victoria Park.

But recent council work to remove the stone youth shelter, also involved the removal of the amphitheatre, leaving festival goers with no where to gather.

Festival organiser, Sheila Sutton, said she had no idea that the seating was to be axed.

She said: “It’s a bit of a nightmare really. Unbeknown to us the amphitheatre has all been taken away. It was central to Holmfirth. It’s disappointing, we had quite a big audience up there. I was aware of the shelter going but not the seating and the amphitheatre. In my opinion it was a major asset to the town.”

Mrs Sutton said the festival committee was now looking at other venues to try and house the festival’s final parade.

Lifelong Holmfirth resident and photography studio proprietor, Helen Bray, was similarly upset at the council work in the park.

“I feel sickened that the whole park seems to be being pulled apart. It’s a community area and these events have taken place there throughout history – my grandfather used to take part.

“It’s so sad going up to the park now,” she added.

Local man, Richard Smith, who has been keeping a close eye on the council’s plans, said on two occasions he had failed to persuade Holme Valley South councillors to reconsider the proposals.

“I very much regret that the main heritage features – the shelter and the terraces associated with the Holmfirth Sing have been removed.

“The plans refer to ‘renovation of the existing panorama’ and new seating – I hope that means that the terrace seating will be replaced with new seating on those terraces but I doubt it. It certainly should be!”

Mr Smith went on to accuse councillors of ignoring public opinion and forging ahead with the revamp without any public approval.

In 2006 a local consultation on the park’s facelift was received with apathy when only 14 people bothered to reply.

He said that the report received by councillors had acknowledged the number of respondents to the park survey had been low and the results should be viewed with caution as they ‘may not accurately reflect the opinion of the local community as a whole’.

“In spite of this, they resolved... ‘that the results of the public consultation be received and noted’,” he added.

Kirklees Council cabinet and Holme Valley South member, Clr Ken Sims, said residents had been given several opportunities to influence the future of the park over two years of public consultation but promised to look into the matter again.

He said: “Nobody was against it and then all of a sudden as soon as we’ve started working they are jumping up and down. I’ve told them we will look at getting some seating but I can’t promise anything.

“We might see if we can get some temporary seating in – we will do our best but they’ve got to give us a chance. We’d be taken to the cleaners if the temporary seating collapsed,” he added.

A council document published in February 2007 regarding the proposed works mentions the ‘demolition of shelter and terraces’ and the installation of ‘3 new orientation nodes’ but does not explicitly include the amphitheatre in its wording.

But a spokesman for the Kirklees’ landscaping team said he had personally given two or three presentations detailing plans for the park that showed the existing stone terraces were to be replaced by grass ones.

“We do find people don’t notice things until we do them,” he added.