Clitheroe Advertiser and Times


EDITORIAL................TEL. CLITHEROE 22324 ADVERTISING.... ......TEL. CLITHEROE 22323 CLASSIFIED....'.............TEL. BURNLEY 22331


THURSDAY, MARCH 17th, 1983


No. 5,046 Price-17p.


THE secretary of a village meals-on- wheels service this week hit out at the quality- of food pro­ vided for the area’s old people, saying it was “mushy and re­ petitive.” Mrs Elizabeth Drew,


Alliance choice for general


election


THE SDP-Liberal Al­ liance has chosen Sabden councillor Michael Carr to fight the new Ribble Valley seat at the next general election. Coun. Carr joined the


Ribble Valley Council in 1979 on a Conservative ticket, but switched his allegiance two years ago because of “growing dis­ satisfaction with national Conservative policies.” The changeover .cost


him the vice-chairmanship of the council’s Planning and Transportation Com­ mittee. Coun. Carr, a former


chairman of Ribble Valley SDP, is head of general studies at Blackthorn School, Bacup. He is mar­ ried and has three chil­ dren.


No cash for litter collection


service until a week to­ morrow . . . because there is no money to pay for it. County Council funds


CLITHEROE without a litter until


for the service ran out earlier this month. But things will-soon be


back to normal when funds for the new finan­ cial year are available: • County Surveyor Mi­


lan Robertson said things such as oil spillage or broken glass on roads would not be ignored.


will be collection


secretary of the Wad- dington, West Bradford and Grindleton branch of the service, says she is ashamed to tell old people that the meals will go up from 45p to 50p on April 1st. She sent a letter of


.complaint to the Ribble Valley Council and when it was read out at the Finance and General Purposes Sub-Commit­


tee meeting this week, Coun. Geoffrey Ains- wOrth (Clayton-le-Dale) said that he did not con­ sider the price unreason­ able. The committee de­ cided to take no action on the matter.


Mrs Drew later told


our reporter: “The coun­ cil is trying to save costs, but it is not fair to cut down on meals for the old.” .


The meals are col­


lected from Clitheroe Hospital by Mrs Drew and her team of volun­ teers on Tuesdays and Thursdays.


“ The staff and the


chefs are very pleasant and try their best, but I- think the catering organ­


iser must not have very much imagination,” said Mrs Drew, who claims that the portions are also getting smaller.


“The price is excessive


for the small amounts on . the plate and the -old people are getting less meat and more dinners smothered in sauces,” she declared.


Mrs Drew, who recal­


led that meals cost lOp when she .joined the ser­ vice 20 years ago, added that she was complain­ ing because she felt her old people could not.


“The ladies on our


rota think the portions are being made small to help pay for wages in preparing the meals.


hardly seems The local organiser for


the WRVS Clitheroe meals-on-wheels service for the elderly, Mrs Joan Myers, of Claremont Drive, also regrets the price increase. However, she took issue fibout the quality of the meals.


“Occasionally my hus­


band helps me take the meals and we often com­ ment on how appetising they look,” she said. “ I think my only criticism would be that occasional­ ly the vegetables are Hot very imaginative.”


Mrs Myers said that


she had not noticed any decrease in the size of


portions. “Old people do not like


large portions, anyway,” she declared. “They can often be overfaced with a large plateful.”


The decision to put up


meals follows a pattern of increasing them by 5p in each of the past two years.


Each meal in the


Ribble Valley is subsid­ ised by an average of 40p by the county coun­ cil and the borough council, with the latter paying a large part.


This makgs the overall


p r ic e 90p in the Clitheroe area, although in other parts it is as high as £1.15 with a sub­ sidy of 65p.


A plea for more consultation on school closures


“DON’T keep us in the dark- — furth­ er public consulta­ tion is needed” was the plea by two local clergy­ men to Lancashire County Council representatives at Tuesday’s public meet ing


in


Clitheroe to dis­ cuss the possible closure of four or. five Ribble Valley primary schools.


Both the Rev. David Woodhouse, Rector of St


James’s, Clitheroe, and the Rev. Brian Cave, Vicar of Hurst Green, re­ quested more oppor­ tunities for public consul­ tation once the county’s Education Committee lias reached its decision in June. Mr Cave slated the con­


sultation document issued to parents, for showing lack of thought, contain­ ing contradictions-and in­ accuracies, being bland, distorted, one-sided and divisive.


Unanimous


proper consultation, a series of meetings had been held, which ap­


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peared to be “cosmetic.” “This is not consultation, this is misleading dictator­ ship,” he said. There was an almost unanimous show of hands


when he asked for an indi­ cation of the meeting’s support for his further consultation request. County Coun. David


Keeley, who chaired the meeting, told the 450- strong gathering in Rib- blesdale School that there were 40,000 spare places in Lancashire primary schools. The aim, follow­ ing a directive from the Government, was to take 40 per cent of the surplus out of use by 1986.


Barrow mother Mrs


Sheila Little raised the issues' 'of the problem - of travel for young children, the cost of transport and the disruption to pupils who had moved to Barrow when Pendleton School closed 18 months ago.


Was it right that they


should be moved again, she asked. And why was a permanent headmaster


Fight gathers momentum


• THE entire village of Chatburn is being lobbied in the fight to save the 58-pupil CE Primary School . . . one of the Ribble Valley schools sug­ gested for closure or


•amalgamation by Lanca­ shire County Council. In other villages pa­


rents are busily forming action committees and starting fund-raising. Parents at Chatburn


have formed a steering committee to resist the plans and letters will be sent to all local people asking them to put their views on the closure plan in writing to the district ed u ca t ion o f f ic e at Clitheroe. Education Committee


officials have suggested as a basis for discussion the closure of both Downham and Grindleton schools, or one school closure from Downham, Grindleton or Chatburn. ' At Hurst Green CE School, which is 140 years old, headmistress Mrs Renee Lang said, “We have kept going in the past with fewer than the 23 children we have now. “I would not be opposed


meetings have already been held at Wiswell- Barrow voluntary control­ led school, where 16 people have formed an action committee and a fund-raising jumble sale has raised £106. Headmaster Mr David Brooks, who only joined


, the school at Christmas, said: “ I was as surprised as - everybody - else .that


our school was suggested for closure. : ■: , “However, the gover­


nors’ view is that-we should not set one school against- another, but fight


to the suggestion by the chairman of the District Education Liaison Com­ mittee that' we should amalgamate with the RC school in the village, if it meant keeping a school in Hurst Green,” she added. Governors’ and parents’


for all of them.” A t Downham' CE School, headmistress Mrs


Valerie Hall said that the governors and parents were working on various plans and' had invited Education Committee rep­ resentat ives to meet them.


Governors at the 33-


pupil Grindleton CE Primary School, another suggested for closure, meet tonight to discuss the proposals.


Balderstone CE School


headmaster Mr Keith Turner said the school governors disagreed with the Education Committee on information quoted in the pink pamphlet on primary schools, which h a d -b e e n is su ed to parents.


. appointed ’ at Christmas when it was known that the school might have to close?


She suggested that


some of the surplus places could be taken out of a Clitheroe school, a point echoed by Mr Malcolm Blackburn, who said that a village school, once closed, would never re­ open, whereas Clitheroe children could always travel to another school in town or even to one of the villages.


“Once a village has lost,


its'school it” has “ lost, its soul,” he said.


Rural life ' Clitheroe parent Mr


Tony Flitcroft, who takes his three children at his own expense to Downham CE School, spoke in favour of the quality of- life embodied by village schools.


“ It is the whole future


of our children we are thinking of,” he said “Big is not beautiful. How. much money is being spent on already large schools in urban areas?


“We should be looking


at ways of keeping rural life going.”


Parent and old boy of Chatburn CE School,' Mr


Roy Porter, drew the county’s, attention, to the


fact that a lot of houses were changing hands in Chatburn.. Young people were moving in, and there was the likelihood that school numbers would in­ crease again.


Ratio Various other questions


were fired at the platform party, which included County Coun. Miss Pam Coward, vice-chairman of the Schools Sub-Commit­ tee, the county’s chief as­ sistant education officer Mr Ray Cornish, district


Gi me


education officer Mr Peter Evans and his deputy, Mr Jack Lord.


One parent wanted. to


know why Lancashire spent less per pupil than any other authority in the country, and another queried the pupil-teacher


‘PANIC’


A STRONG letter of disapproval at the sug­ gestion that four or five lo cal primary schools should, clos.e.is, to’ be sent to Lanca­ shire County Council from the Ribble Valley Council’s Policy and Resources Committee.


At their meeting on


Monday, councillors asked that a copy of their letter also goes to the Government, and local MP Mr David Waddington.


Coun. Ted Boden,


headmaster of one of the threatened schools at Chatburn, said: “The ■quality of life in a vil­ lage where the school closes always takes a downward turn.


“ The count ry is


panicking because the birthrate is declining, yet this happened in the 1960s. Certainly vil­ lage birthrates have always see-sawed.”


' ratio, but was assured by Mr Cornish that one teacher to 28 pupils was the staffing level in Lan­ cashire primary schools. Another suggestion was


that two schools could op­ erate by sharing a head


•.teacher, as an alternative way of making economies. Although there were


many more people wish­ ing to speak, County Coun. Keeley closed the meeting after two hours.


TWO Clitheroe men ivho have each given SO pints o f '


blood to the National Blood Tran-,


fusion Service over the y ea rs have received gold awards. M r D en n is Birch


.■(left),, o f Br.oivnlow. Street, and Mr Jack Kenyon (51), o f West View, received their aivards from Clitheroe M a y o r Coun. John Cowgill.


Mr Birch (52). a printer with Bye’s, of


'-Clitheroe, became a. donor after seeing an a c c id en t at F a rn - borough A i r '


Show in


1952 in which many people were killed and injured..-. ■


M r K en y o n , who


works f o r the Milk Marketing Board in Clitheroe, became a blood donor in 1965.


Compromise quarry plan finds favour


A REVISED plan to extend quarrying at j Waddington Fell was accepted as a compromise; by Ribble Valley councillors on Tuesday and' now goes before the county council.


The amended plan, sub­ Office raid


RAIDERS who broke into Castle Castings Clitheroe, caused £60 damage to office equip­ ment before making off with an electric razor, a calculator and £2.52 in cash. Clitheroe CID is in­ vestigating.


Rate arrears


THE Ribble Valley Coun­ cil has applied for 159 summonses for rate ar­ rears, involving a sum of £40,000.


Dos- a- dos and away we go I


mitted by Waddington Fell Quarries, was to ex­ tract sandstone from 8.03 acres over 10 years


It replaces a previous


proposal to tap shale re­ serves over the next 20


years to supply the new dry process kiln at Rib b l e sd a l e Ceme n t ’ s Clitheroe plant.


The new pr opo sa l


means leaving the shale untapped, members of the Ribble Valley Council’s Development Sub-Com­ mittee heard.


The Sub-Committee ivas told that Waddington


. Parish Council still ob­ jected to the proposal but felt if it was approved certain conditions should be imposed.


These, to be considered


by the county council, relate tp the movement and size of vehicles — no working on Sundays, a noon finish on Saturdays and a 7-30 a.m. to 5 p.m. day during the' week.


The parish council also


wants an undertaking on laTtcl restoration. . •


. Coun. Jack Can1' (Bil- lington) said the company', which employs 22 people,' was very responsible and had no wish • to upset Waddington residents. '


'Committee chairman


.Coun. John .1. ■ Walmsley (Waddmgton), said: “We would have liked some­ thing different, but at the end of the,day it’s a good compromise.


“ I f we can get restnc-


■on Saturday was a rootin’, tootin’ .affair — just like something out of the old West! Stetsons and. bootlace ties were very much in. evidence as well as “six-guns” and there was the


GRINDLETON School’s barn dance at the school


. odd harmonica player to make the school’s Coun­ try. and Western evening go with a swing.


■ “Sheriff’ for the evening was Mr Len Janka, a j -


country -dance teacher from St Anne’s, who. made sure all the. knees were'kicked really high.


event, organised by staff. It- raised £30 for school funds.


About 50 parents and friends: enjoyed the i


. This was the first barn dance the school has held and another is planned* ;■■■■


t i ons on hour s and we i g h t s we will be making, it as . fair. as we possibly can.” . .


The plan is also subject


to - Department ■ of ; Envi­ ronment sanction nTso far as . common land -is af­ fected.,


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raised and will be shared between two missionary funds.


District plan ‘waste of time’


LANCASHIRE County Council is unwilling to re­ scind its decision to build a new fire station on land at Princess Avenue, Clitheroe.


Members of the Ribble


Valley Council’s Develop­ ment Sub-Committee ex­ pressed disappointment over the decision, saying that - it ..moanj: that, the Clitheroe. District Plan was a complete waste of time if the county could trample over decisions at local level.


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FOOD, glorious food was well to the j'ore when women’s working parties from each branch of the Clitheroe Methodist Circuit staged a missionary market on Saturday. For there were saml-


Boundaries decision


'could start stampede'


FEARS that the Simon- stone-Read application to


join the Ribble Valley could, if successful, start a stampede of people wanting to get of the Burnley area, were expre­ ssed by the Ribble Valley Council’s chief executive Mr Michael Jackson this week. “ It must be made clear


that this would not create a precedent for others to follow,” he told the Policy and Resources Commit­ tee, adding that lie thought Simonstone had a good ease. The merger proposals


will be considered a week today at a Boundary' Com­ mission special hearing at Read United Reformed Church. Assistant commissioner


Mr R. E. Millward will be seeking further informa­ tion in the light of the reassessed draft proposal that Read arid Simonstone should be administered by one authority — either Ribble Valley or Burnley Borough.


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