........... ...........1 ^ l e v m M U C ^ f i e y ^ u u tm v t i s u i u v n i d e r CC i itttes, o i t i t u u r y * o u i , ± irvu


Fear for welfare of children


in this country


AS a parent, I was appalled by the death of the young boy who had to be taken to Stoke


for treatment. I can only feel the utmost sympathy for the parents


of this young child. The trauma they suffered must have been unbearable. I wonder then, if they read Nigel Evans’s com­ ments, whether they shared the same feeling of


utter disbelief as I did. Does Mr Evans really not accept that the Government’s reforms had no bearing on this case?


According to Department of Health figures, one in


six beds have been closed since the latest health reforms. Did we read about these cases ten or 15 years ago? I think they were very isolated incidents, but now they seem to be everyday events. I f Queen’s Park Hospital has been given millions


of pounds to organise and provide services, as Mr Evans suggested, and has not reached standards set by Government, who is to blame?


Are these trusts not predominantly run by Tory-


filled quangos, most of whose members have no nursing background? I f there is to be an inquiry into this case, then surely, Mr Evans, you left out the word “independent” when calling for one.


How can parents be reassured that this will not


• happen to them when they read in their morning newspapers about a heart-attack victim who failed to get a bed in 12 hospitals and died as a result? Also, on the same day, 35 patients spent a night


on trolleys in a hospital corridor because of bed shortages.


The question that any inquiry should ask is: "How


many more people are going to lose their lives because of the Government’s policy of putting profit at the top of the priorities that a Trust must provide?” As a parent, I fear for the welfare and the health


of all the children in this country and dread the thought of my own kids having to go through the


same scenario as Lewis. CONCERNED PARENT


‘L e a n a n d f i t ’ N H S u n a b le to c o p e w i th e x t r a d em a n d


I WAS intrigued to see that your local MP, Nigel Evans, is calling for an inquiry into the tragic death of Lewis Jackson, while heaping all the blame on Blackburn’s Queen’s Park


Hospital. From my understanding of the situation, the fault


lies not with Queen's Park but rather with the under- funding of paediatric intensive care.


I t is simply not good enough for Mr Evans to


say that Queen’s Park has “received millions of pounds in funding and this situation should never have arisen”.


Having looked into the facts of this case, it would


appear that Lewis could have received the inten­ sive care he required in either Liverpool or Man­ chester. However, due to a bed shortage caused by the under-funding of paediatric intensive care, the only available bed was in Stoke, 80 miles away. For an MP to try to lay the blame at the door of a much-respected local hospital is almost as disturbing as the under-funding of the health service which his Government'has so callously permitted.


I am sure that Mr Evans will already be thinking


up his defence — something along the lines that this was an isolated, one-off tragedy for which everyone, except the real culprits in the corridors of power, is to


MARCUS JOHNSTONE, Scott Park Road, Burnley.


Deterring potential visitors


UNDER the tourism section of the Ribble Valley Borough Council Charter ’95, the council states: “We will main­ tain, manage, develop and promote the tourism potential of Ribble Valley area. . . ” I draw your attention to the follow­


ing note: “Unfortunately, our sites officer for the Camping and Caravan­ ning Club decided not to use your site because of all the adverse publicity regarding emissions from the cement works’ chimney. I would have liked to have camped with you.” My point is this. How much longer


will this adverse publicity continue to deter potential visitors to the area? How much longer will the Cemfuel and the plume-grounding arguments rage? How much longer before something appears to be done? How much longer do Ribble Valley residents have to feel embarrassed by the never-ending blot on our landscape?


I f extended quarrying were to go


ahead, then how can Ribble Valley Council continue to have a serious com­ mitment to tourism?


CONCERNED RESIDENT


blame. Sadly, it is not a one-off incident with newspapers


circulating in north and central Lancashire report­ ing a disturbingly similar case. In this instance a seriously-ill baby had to be taken 150 miles from Lan­ caster to Nottingham after being turned away from children’s hospitals in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds because of bed shortages.


The cases of both Lewis Jackson and the baby from


Lancaster point to the same thing: the health ser­ vice is now so “ lean and fit” that it is unable to


cope with anything other than a routine level of demand. Anything more and seriously-ill babies are sent 150 miles away for care while a dying toddler has to travel 80 miles.


Inquiries of the type suggested by Mr Evans are no


substitute for the levels of funding once taken for granted in the health service. I trust, therefore, that the people of Ribble Valley will not forget Mr Evans’s hypocritical attempt to absolve his Government from the guilt of this tragedy when he asks for their vote at the next election.


IN connection with the disgrace of the failed


prudent to conduct business in public. • Is the contractor a


P r u d e n c e w a s


apparently lacking when the council chose the installer to do the job in the first place. A prudent householder,


when obtaining quotes for a job to be done at home,


is usually careful when making the final choice,


and considers various fac­ tors, e.g.: • Which contractor is


best qualified for the job? • Is the contractor


recommended by other satisfied customers?


PREPARED TO ENCOURAGE POLLUTERS


MR EVANS, in his New Year speech, talks about keeping the Ribble Valley a “green and pleasant land”


Well, Mr Evans you are


too late. It is no longer a “green and pleasant land” here in the Ribble Valley. It is a polluted valley, a dioxin hotspot, according to the Channel 4 “ Dis­ patches” programme a few


weeks ago. You want the rural


tranquillity o f our area preserved for generations. You and your Govern­


ment are quite prepared to encourage polluters to profit at the expense of


the future


health here in Valley. Let us hope in the very


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Ribble Avenue, Grindleton.


LOVE IS FROM THE HEART


REG ARD ING Miss D. Brown’s letter about her beloved castle. She is a b e au t i fu l


writer. When she says precious things come in small doses, she will never write a truer word. Mr G. A. Taylor’s article


on the je t engine is o f equal importance. I would give the je t engine the edge. The adventures in the


castle o f Miss Brown makes the mind boggle. Unfortunately, I was bom the other side of Pendle Hill, otherwise I would have enjoyed sharing her adventures. On another subject, may I say that the picture on


page seven of the “Adver­ tiser and Times” of the Frankland family and the dog Cleo is a picture of love. Love is from the heart and that picture says it all.


A. DICKINSON, Whittle Close, Clitheroe.


long-established firm?


• The cost of the job — bearing in mind that there is such a thing as false


economy. We expect the officers


employed by the council to mate important decisions for the taxpayers, to be well qualified, experts in a particular field and to have an amount o f common sense. They are well paid and we trust them to make


■ the right decisions. That there were no elec­ trical earths to camera


points is a worry in itself. One wonders what criteria was used to make the


choice. The facts should be


made public. After all, it is the public which is footing the bill and it deserves to


Ribble Val-


be told how this debacle came about. I t is all too easy, both at local level and national level, for tax­ p a y e r s ’ money to be thrown down the drain. I t looks (again last


week’s “Advertiser” ) as though the LCC Police Authority has also thrown


our money away by spend­ ing £250,000 to refurbish our police station, the role of which is being further curtailed and soon will b e c o m e a w h i t e


elephant” . It’s a pity that the wast­


ing of taxpayers’ money is not a punishable offence.


Still, l f it were, most of our administrators would be in the dock!


MRS JOAN MARSH, Lancaster Drive, Clitheroe.


Another nail in budget coffin for next year


the Kibble _____\


near future that our next Kibble Val ley MP will practise what he preaches.


THE £50,000+ required to nnvS


complete the lackadaisical closed circuit TV surveil­ lance in the centre o f Clitheroe is surely another nail in the coffin for the


nAn\eiM\


•next year’s Ribble Valley Borough Council budget.


While further scrutiny


•is justified in how the council found its e l f so stricken with CCTV, the drastic cuts y et to be found for 1996/97 are much more the curse o f the Government, which will only allow the current budget (£4.011m) plus around £20,000 (+ one half %).


There are anomalies like


the £6m business tax raised with only £1.8m remaining in the coffers, the rest going to Govern­ ment. And next year’s council tax is still set to rise by about 7.6%. '


Basically, district coun­


cils are being hammered (rural ones in particular) to pay for tax reductions and other sideways move­ ments of monies to keep the Government afloat.


T h e c o u n c i l ’ s own


projection is that savings of between £0.35m and £0.5m a re needed to ensure that an illegal defi­ cit budget is avoided. This can certainly be achieved by r o o t and branch entrenchment of expendi­ ture (meeting the costs of a director’s in-car hi-fi and paying £1,000 a day for a lecturer to speak on moti-


The question is: who is


SNAP! There is not another Skeat in all the Blackburn telephone directory. So what? I t is clear my attacker is misinformed on the issues of Barrow Print Works, misleads the villagers into


the NIMBY?


believing the course of events that were determined seven or eight years ago can now be dramatically changed, and is malevolent towards me for expressing the truth and seeking to secure controlled development in accordance with permissions that have been granted, not by me but by those present councillors (whom clearly Mr Skeat supports) who now control the planning destiny of this borough. The planning approvals for Barrow Print Works


were renewed less than three years ago by council­ lors Holt, McWilliams, Howel Jones, Mrs Clegg the ward councillor, and most of the present planning committee. Whatever the people of Barrow desire, the devel­ opment started in the village will not stop, nor will the development at Langho Colony, Brockhall, and Calderstones. Who knows — Primrose Lodge could see up to 50 houses if the owners get


their way. Woone


Lane might be widened to permit even bigger vehicles off Primrose Road to new industrial development that could be built on the large open space behind the DSS factory. Each of these above proposals have been given approval at differing times by St James’s council­ lors Holt and McWilliams, and the Clitheroe County Coun. R. Howel Jones.


I have never ever voted for houses on Primrose


Lod ge, Barrow Pr int Works, Brockhall nor Calderstones.


Mr Skeat fails to recognise that Clitheroe and Whal­


ley have a 1,000-year history of being a commer­ cial and industrial area. A large factory was on the print works site for more than 100 years. Look at the houses on Whiteacre Lane, built on the site of the school. There are not many low-cost dwellings. I cannot see much effort by the county councillors


to meet the needs of the school in Barrow. I t took me to remove the outside toilets, to remove the lead pipes for drinking water, to secure the temporary office for the head teacher and finally a new class­ room for the increasing numbers of pupils. All Mr Skeat has to do is walk up to the cement


works and look at the big hole that bespoils his beauti­ ful Ribble Valley; just cast his eves to the heavens and look at the poison being spewed out from those chim­ neys, across Clitheroe, Chatburn, Downham and where else! All approved by the current councillors. I ask the question — who is the NIMBY?


RON PICKUP, Lingfield Avenue, Clitheroe.


}


vation should, of course, be discouraged), with


, councillors s e e in g all invoices and cutting out all unessential spending, that is to say that which is deemed desirable but in the current climate is someth ing we can do without.


Such examples for the.


foreseeable future (12 months from April 1st, 1996) are:


• No more promotions


(industrial/tourism, etc.), subscriptions, attendance at seminars, conferences, exhibitions, grants.


• Reduce mayoralty


costs to nil. • Do not open museum,


suspend operation of art gallery, no provision for culture/arts.


• N o t r a in in g fo r


staff/eouncillors. • No bus shelters, road­


side seats, lamp posts etc. • The sale o f assets,


like recreational land in Longridge, should not be contemplated.


The council must be


viewed as a business that is in the hands o f an administrator who has been appointed by the courts to ensure that it can continue trading and credi­ tors can be paid. Failing that, the council


might as well send the staff to buy lottery tickets with whatever is left in the safe (or shoe box!)


BRUCE DOWLES, Whalley Road, Clitheroe.


Prudent to discuss matter


in private


■ MAY I thank you for your full and interesting articles on the disaster o f the •CCTV system. Hopefully,


this disaster will be of a temporary nature and will be rectified when Coun. Waller’s demand for a full review of the funding and the business case is satisfied.


. I must, however, take


■ issue with the second paragraph of Miss Rob­


son’s otherwise accurate report, where she states that Coun. Sowter alleged


. that the Chief Executive had “ directed” that the


discussion should be moved into the public


domain. I do not recall 1 Coun. Siowter’s using" the .wo • word “direct” , but, UUi '1''1 K----------- 1 '


;.,.,.„ i u uf he


did, he was out of order in that


bers, not the Chief Execu- te’


, public or private. , It is true that nothing-


was said which might not have been said in public, but it is all too easy to exercise hindsight and to


«m Wlse ,after the event. When a debate is to range


over such topics as faulty equipment, possible legal action against a defaulting contractor, and the appor­ tionment o f blame, it is only prudent to avoid the danger of unwise or slan- derous allegations and dis- euss the matter in private. A lull public report will


l o 11 ° w w h en n r. „ „ Waller’s


effect.


w h en C ou n . resolution takes


PETER EVANS, Chairman o f Planning


a n d .D e v e lo p m e n t Committee.


whether a debate is to be'


the committee mem­ properly decide


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