Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified), www.eastlancsnews.co.uk Ian (24) is national technician of the year


ANOTHER top national award has come to the Whalley area. It already boasts


"best in the country" titles in varied spheres such as ladies' outfit­ ting, computers, riding gear and pub food. Now Mr Ian Carter


(24) has been named "Technician of the Year" from among 5,700 entries in a competition run by AutoTrade, a major garage magazine. Mr Carter has worked


at Whalley Motor Ser­ vices for most of his six years in the trade. A former student at


Blackburn College, Mr Carter was up against 39 other technicians at the final of the competition in London. He works on all makes of car and can deal with any job, includ­ ing ones involving the computer controls used in many vehicles now. Mr Carter (pictured)


was accompanied by his employer, Mr Brian Pearson, and his parents and girlfriend at the pre­ sentation at the London Hilton. (310300/4/19a)


Chews Farm homes development could put strain on vital services


T h i s i s t h e m e s s a g e f r o m c o n c e r n e d p r o t e s t g r o u p re p o r t b y J ulie F ra n k la n d ______


THE foundations of another major new housing development may soon be laid in Clitheroe, yet gridlock and the exhaustion of health and other


residents in Milton, Chester and Cowper Avenues, who discovered just days ago that plans had been submit­ ted for an up-market estate of 25 "executive" three and four-bedroomed homes to be built on their "rec" - green field land, which is part of Chews Farm - the neighbourhood cannot sup­ port any further new influx. To counter attack, they


have quickly mobilised themselves into a protest group in a bid to have the application, made by Bell­ way Homes, thrown out when it comes before Ribble Valley Borough Council's Planning Committee next


month.


and mother-of-two Mrs Ruth Smith, of Milton Avenue: "We are very angry that this site, which is green land, has been earmarked for more housing develop­ ment. In recent years, we have watched big estates go up in nearby Eastern Street and Hawthorne Place, which have significantly increased local traffic con­


Explained group member


gestion. "It is already difficult


enough to pull out into Waddington Road. I have seen peak hours traffic backed up to the cemetery, and more new houses could potentially add another 50 or so cars to create gridlock. This is not to mention the increased risk of danger to our children that more traf­


fic could bring." Added Mrs Smith:


"There is then the pressure on local health services and education. As with the other new estates, the pro-


vital services could be its consequences. For according to shocked posed development will, like ourselves, fall into the Pen- dle and Brookside Primary Schools catchment area. We already struggle for sec­ ondary school places in the Ribble Valley. Is the same now going to happen at pri­ mary level? "It can hardly be claimed


Rural landscape becoming like Blackpool prom


Mr Nick Cooper, of Larkhill Cottages, Old Langho, during a public participation session in the borough council chamber. Mr Cooper successfully


PART of the Ribble Valley's rural landscape is beginning to look like "Blackpool Promenade", with signs, floodlights and brightly-lit windows, a local resident has warned. The message came from What next - a flashing neon


sign for the motel? "There is no need to visu­


opposed an application for a total of four signs at a new development, including a cafe bar, restaurant and hotel, at the entrance to Brockhall Village. The application was for


three illuminated and one non-illuminated signs. He drew the the council’s


Planning and Development Committee's attention to the existing illumination of nearby Blackburn Rovers' Football Academy and said the extra signs in the same area would be intrusive. "A few months ago, I


alise what these signs will look like when they are up - one of the largest has already been erected. When I am in my house at night, either working or eating in the kitchen or moving about the house, this sign and the one at the Academy are a dominating feature in the landscape - they seem to follow you around. They have a definite and incon­ trovertible impact on the residential amenity of all those living in Larkhi especially the west side." Mr Cooper pointed out


would probably not have had any interest in the sub­ ject of an internally-illumi­ nated sign," he declared. "What has brought me here to speak in opposition to this sign tonight is my expe­


rience. "When the previous


application for an illumi­ nated sign at the Rovers' Academy came up, 1 did not object. Now I know better! We are still trying to get the lighting at the acad­ emy toned down. The last thing we want is for yet more intrusive lighting on this site. "Where I live used to be


Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, April 6th, 2000 3


F O R B E S solid t:o


i~ s


L e g a l A d v i c e


On all areas of Law including: - Matrimonial & Family


the business was in a cul-de- sac, off a country road about two miles from the main highway, adding that a sign would serve "little commercial purpose except to decorate the outside of the building in a highly inappropriate way for a rural area like Ribble Val ley". The committee voted


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against the planning offi cers' recommendation that the signs be allowed. A report before the meet­


part of the countryside. 1 could go out of my back gate and look up and see the stars. Now all I see are signs, floodlights and brightly-lit windows. "I don’t exaggerate, but


it's beginning to look like Blackpool promenade.


ing by Mr John Macholc development control man­ ager, said the distance between the restaurant and Larkhill Cottages was 80m and that "I would not con­ sider the impact to be so great as to recommend a refusal". Councillors turned down


Carter House, 28 Castle St, Clitheroe, BB7 2EH t: 01200 427228 t: 01254 265809 (24 hours)


8


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the application on the grounds of "over-intensifi­ cation" and that the signs would be unnecessary and would result in loss of amenity for Larkhill resi­ dents.


No indecency case retrial for teacher


that this estate will fulfil any housing shortfall, as the homes proposed are luxury, detached properties, with doubtlessly a price tag to match. It is also our under­ standing that Ribble Valley Borough Council has ful- filcd its housing need quota to 2006. We are a close-knit community. We want our children to grow up with the freedom of being able to play out and to see green fields, rather than being enclosed by concrete." Already, the community


A TEACHER with decades of service to Stonyhurst Col­ lege will not have to face retrial on three indecency charges. His defence costs are being paid from public


funds. Raymond Turner (65), of


Smithy Row, Hurst Green, pleaded not guilty to allega­ tions going back to the 1970s when he appeared before Preston Crown Court. lie said nothing improper had happened and the jury failed to return any verdict after nine hours of deliberation. After a week's adjourn­


has bombarded ward coun­ cillors and Planning Com­ mittee members Coun. Howel Jones and Coun. Frank Dyson with anti­ estate letters and phone calls. Said Coun. Jones, who returned from holiday only this week : "I received five letters from worried resi­ dents in my post today. I always think building on green field sites should be resisted. I will reply to each letter and I will consider all the arguments put for­ ward." In a similar vein, Coun.


no retrial was sought, and so the matters would mere­ ly lie on the court file. They will not be proceeded with. Defence counsel Mr John


Jackson applied for costs from central funds. He told the judge that


ment for the Crown Prose­ cution Service to consider the matter, Judge Ronald Livesey QC was told that


there was always a pre­ sumption of innocence in a case, and his client had not been found guilty. He had paid all his costs himself. The judge allowed the


application.


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Dyson added: "I have received numerous phone calls on this issue. People have good reason to be concerned and I will care­ fully consider all aspects. It is my advice to residents th a t they write to each and every member of the Planning Committee with


their reasons for opposing the development." The group (some of


whom are pictured above) has also made contact'with Ribble Valley MP Mr Nigel Evans, who has promised to meet members on a visit to Chews Farm tomorrow afternoon to help them plan a campaign strategy. Said Mr Evans: "I am complete­


ly sympathetic to saving green fields from housing development, and I believe that Chews Farm could be a test case to trial the worth of the Government's new housing guidelines. "These are supposedly


vices forming the local infrastructure such as edu­ cation, transport and health would be unable to cope." Added Mr Evans: "Rib­


designed to allow local authorities to reject plan­ ning applications for hous­ ing on the grounds that ser­


ble Valley Borough Council has already more than met its housing commitment for the next five years." (040400/23/3)


Rush to help with Civic Hall plan


A FACE-LIFT project a t the former Civic Hall Cinema in Clitheroe has, so far, attracted offers of help from some 50 volun­


teers. The response came at


a public meeting at the hall on- Monday, follow­ ing appeals in the Clitheroe Advertiser and


Times and on BBC Look North West for teams of workers to brighten up the building. Project manager Mr


Geoff Jackson described the initial response as "very encouraging", but said more volunteers were still needed. "It was good to see a few new faces as well as the ones


we expected," he added. Trinity Partnership,


which has acquired the hall, with the backing of the Lancaster Charitable Foun­ dation, closed the building at the weekend for the face­ lift. The operation includes


cleaning, painting, electrical work, joinery and plumb­


ing. It is an interim project in


advance of a £3m. scheme aimed at turning the hall into a hi-tech community arts centre. Mr Jackson said th a t


the initial face-lift was needed because the hall had become dirty and untidy. I t was due to reopen on May 13th as The Grand - for film shows and other activities. He explained that offers


of help had come from elec­ tricians, painters and clean­ ers, but the partnership was still looking for joiners and plumbers. The idea was for people to form themselves into groups from among friends and colleagues. Anyone interested in


helping in any part of the work should contact Mr Jackson at Trinity Centre in Clitheroe.


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