........ i_______. . - - . . . . . . . . . . i^ , - > , Jj | j;l,l |,„ - i
Local Knowledge National pp^ Coverage
Clitheroe 01200 426919 Whailey 01254 823719
A ? AT A = GLANCE _
A m ara th o n golf challenge gets under way tomorrow, as a local man aims to play in four home co u n tr ie s in four days.
page 28
There is a chance for talented young sters to star in a top local music festival.
page 16
Things are swinging a t a local play area which has' been given a facelift by Ribble Valley Bor ough Council.
page 2
An ancient tree in a p ic tu re -p o s tc a rd
village has had to be felled, but its his tory lives on.
page 6 A Ribble Valley
church m arks a major milestone this y e ar .
page 12
Two local schools move into the com puter age, thanks to the generosity of a North-West com
pany. page 17
FOGGITT’S WEEKEND WEATHER:
A north wind could bring sleet showers and low tempe ra
tures. LIGHTING UP TIME: 9-24 p.m.
CALLUS
News: 0 1 2 0 0 4 2 2 3 2 4 A d v c r l i s iu g : 0 1 2 0 0 4 2 2 3 2 3 Classified: 0 1 2 8 2 4 2 2 3 3 1
Fax: 0 1 2 0 0 4 4 3 4 6 7
Anxious parents may fund teacher
---- - an exclusive story by Sheila Nixon
PARENTS at the trou ble-hit Whailey CE Primary School have made a dramatic bid to prevent a staffing crisis — and to boost the
school’s battered image. -— ------- --------- - The unprecedented move
could re su l t in p a ren ts being asked to dip into their own pockets to help cover the costs of employ
ing a teacher. The initiative — still to be
given the go-ahead — was
-c u t ,-—th ey responded favourably to an impas
p rom p ted a f te r a ctin g headteacher Linda Roberts called a meeting with par ents to explain the reason ing behind a governors’ decision to reduce seven classes to six. Instead of accepting the
sioned plea, in a letter from parent Andrew Rbnnan, to attempt to keep the seven classes and to help foot the bill for the teacher them
selves. The meeting, attended by
Fiesta 1.3i Azura 3dr on* th e ro a d *
100 p a ren ts a t th e 188- pupil school, endorsed an initial investigation to look a t ways of launching a t ru s t , following a steep drop in pupil numbers and the inevitable cut in local authority funding. They heard from Mr Ron-
nan that the bill could work o u t a t ab o u t £100 per pu p il, b u t no pressure
would be placed on parents unable to make donations. I t was stressed th a t other
fund-raising activities were being investigated and local businesses could also be approached for help. The idea was that the voluntary fund-raising would be for a temporary period only in the hope th a t pupil rolls would recover and local au th o r ity funding would return to its original level. A prospectus spelling out
Call us NOW for a test drive
th e o ptions has a lre ad y gone to a ll p a ren ts . Mr Ronnan told the Advertiser and Times this week th a t the organisers were pleased with the initial response. The move has been initiat
ed by parents keen to re establish the school’s for mer first-class reputation, following the removal of between 40 and 50 children over an 18-month period and the resignation of eight governors. As we have already reported, the head teacher, Miss Yvonne Hulse, is now on sick leave. Accountant John Ander
son and solicitor Stephen Barker, both parents, have joined company director Mr Ronnan in preparing the prospectus. In a Press statement, they
— MB
bawdlands garage, CLITHEROE
U S CR T
explained that, if the finan cial sh o r tfa ll was n ot addressed in time, th e school would be left with resources to run only six classes in the next academic year and n ot seven as a t present.
---------———^ — 1* 4-V, * in .Qontomher. AN im p a s s io n e d '
plea from parent Mr Andrew Ronnan
They continued: “A volun
ta ry letter was circulated to a number of parents and this was discussed in more d e ta i l a t a very well- a tte n d ed meeting la s t week, when it was resolved th at a prospectus would be drawn up and circulated to all families presently with children a t the school and also to those families th at have indicated th a t their children will be sta r tin g
The Clitheroe e n t e r p r i s e
TRIUMPHS IN CLASSROOM
- m •
True-blue Ribble Valley comes in for Bremner quip
TH E Ribble Valley certainly deserves
its true-blue-Tory reputation. I t must surely have the most loyal Tory
voters in Britain — even top comedian Rory Bremner says so!
Re-elected MP Mr Nigel Evans had hard .
ly a pin-prick of a swing against him, 1.37% to Liberal Democrats. I t appears to
be the lowest in the country and went with an increased majority of 98. Many more prominent Tories managed to
hold on to their seats, despite far bigger swings, but massive percentages spectacu larly unseated cabinet ministers, especially
in Scotland. Yet Mr Evans was almost unscathed, and
th is week a massive c eleb ra tio n and thanksrto-workers party was being organ
ised by local officials. Saturday night’s “Three men and a vote
show on Channel 4 included a sketch in which Rory Bremner parodied Tony Blair.
dvertiser and 1 imes The paper that champions the RlbPie Valley cause WIN PRIZE O F X *
LIFETIME FOR YOUR DAD ^ 7
..bear — M lie F O N
i CHALLENGE FOR R M A
US FROM AN IRATE READER
The Labour leader was agonisingly wait
ing to see whether there would be any last- minute hitches stopping his entry to num ber 10 Downing Street. “Oh no — not a last-minute swing in the
Ribble Valley,” he gasped in mock horror, apparently an ironic reference to the fact th a t he would receive no help from this
area. I t is not known how the scriptwriters
came across this idea, but they possibly searched the newspaper lists for the lowest swing constituency. This week, Mr Evans was interviewed on
several television programmes, and asked about the Tory position in general and the leadership contest in particular. He indicated th at he would be supporting
the former Welsh secretary, Mr William Hague, who was involved in a controversy about standing with former Home Secre tary Mr Michael Howard.
rp> ~»
THURSDAY, May 8th, 1997 No. 5,783
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there in September. “I t has been agreed th a t
the prospectus can be stud ied in greater detail, and a further meeting has been arranged for next Tuesday evening for further discus sions to take place before any f in al decisions are
made. “Whatever the outcome, it has become quite clear over the past few days that all parents'would appear to
■want to rally round the school and see it move posi
tively forward. “The very fa ct th a t the
proposal has been positive ly considered is a huge vote of confidence in the present staff a t the school, which has an excellent academic record and is situated in an enviable historic location in the heart of the village.” The chairman of the gov
ernors, th e Rev. Michael Ackroyd, said: “We warm ly welcome this vote of con fidence in the school by the parents. The school has an outstanding academic rec- • Continued on page 15
i P i
GUESS which Ribble Valley beau ty spot Fred is visiting and find out if you were h ot or cold on Mon day’s edition of Granada tonight. The region’s best-known weatherman,
Fred Talbot, paid a visit to one of his
favourite locations this week. In Granada Tonight’s regular Monday
night slot) “Where is Fred?”, the quirky weather forecaster will be invit ing members of the public to guess where he was.
- Ribble Valley residents should have a
head start on all those taking part in the weekly competition, as the filming took place at one of the area’s well-
Doctor’s knock-out blow for clean air protesters
by Tim Procter
A NEAR knock-out blow was delivered this week to local air quality and pollu
tion protesters. T h e a r e a ’s D i r e c to r of P u b l ic
Health, D r Stephen Morton, told th e Advertiser and Times: “ I t is difficult, and probably impossible, for any one individual or small pop u la tio n group to prove there is a link between health problems and industrial emissions. Ten per cent of a ll ch ild ren everywhere have asthma, and cancer and chest prob lems are common. There are many different and complex reasons.” Protesters, confident of results sup porting their case, are demanding
th at the health authority headed by Dr Morton make investigations into
the Ribble Valley situation. But Dr Morton replies: “We have
been doing th a t , as fa r as our resources allow, by analysing the fig- ures for asthma, chest complaint mid similar drug prescriptions in the Rib ble Valley, and looking a t mortality rates and other factors. They all show th at health is better, generally, than
in the rest of our area. RFU AR LD " ^ System plus Tel: . a » availability. Endn ■ Privilege. C ™ » n c e . t o |
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•One off connection charge of £12 is payable. ‘Offer not open to previous subscribers. Prices quoted at current rates and may vary in future^ "1°"'' ™ . “ ‘If the Ribble Valley had a problem, :_____ ____ - . ' IV
I would expect i t to show in the fig ures, and to have feedback from doc tors. There is no such evidence.” • However, protesters can have some
comfort from the health authority. For Dr Morton is sympathetic to the fact th a t people have complaints about the effects of airborne pollu tion, which may make existing health problems worse.He is n o t saying nothing can be done about i t, bu t feels that action will have to be on a political rather th an health basis. Pressure m ust be k ep t up on the a u th o r i t ie s to reduce th e lim its allowed to industry. Dr Morton says he awaits the results
of last year’s Environment Agency study into local air pollution with interest. He also feels th a t the Gov ernment should s ta r t a long-term national study of the effects of burn ing secondary liquid fuels. But, he adds, the evidence he has seen so far indicates they offer no higher pollu tion levels than coal. Dr Morton’s views come a t a time
when Castle Cement is being criti cised for having no insurance cover for health-related claims against it by th e
public.The company itse lf released this information when asked about i t by a protest group and this
S a te l l ite
now only
____1. MAMAonl mOTIQtTOP M r
week general manager Mr Ian Sutherari said th a t the cover was comparable to th a t taken ou t by cement works and other industrial plants all over the country. Sudden, accidental or unforseen incidents were included, but cover for gradual pollution would be very unusual.
“In the 60 years the works has oper
ated a t Clitheroe, there has been no evidence linking any emissions from it to instances of ill-health. Moreover,
• to our knowledge, there have been no proven links between cement manu facture and ill-health in the 100-year history of the UK cement industry.” • Mr Sutheran’s assertion th at the
Ribblesdale works remains one of the most closely-monitored plants in the country is borne out by an Environ ment Agency decision to prosecute the firm. Summonses are to be served alleging emission level breaches, with th e evidence coming from Castle
Cement’s own figures. T h is is ju s t one a sp e c t of th e
agency’s response to public concern, as well as to its statutory duties. A project team of various experts is making a detailed examination of the company, and recently took a river spill sample which is currently being
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