The Clitheroe Thursday, April 5th, 2001 No. 5,987
Runaway book success
GLANCE AT A -
The local MP is in crisis talks with rural businesses hit by foot and mouth.
mmmummnm page 16
A man who claimed to have been British kick-box champion is jailed for threat ening behaviour.
i— page 2
A courageous wheel- chair-bound boy splashes out for charity.
—ntmmmammmm page 12
A sacked driver parades outside a local company dress es as a banana.
A
Hopes are high that Lottery money will provide the town with a cancer care centre.
A young Christian team is making a difference on the town’s streets.
— page 6
Police ask the pub lic to help stop thefts of diesel.
J-t l Si
FOGGITT’S WEEKEND WEATHER: Sunny, but with a cold wind.
CALLUS
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Editorial e-mail: clitheroe.editorial@
rim.co.uk
by John Turner
A £50m. investment on a for mer mill site near Clitheroe will bring up to 5,000 new jobs to the Ribble Valley
A lull page fJIlEf-li
of readers’ with our letters Easter offers ■»
page 10
Former mill site’s £50m. investment will bring 5,000 jobs over 10 years
® And plans are in hand for two more
office zones, a hotel, a McDonalds, a service station and a Rolls Royce
Bentley garage. Mr Deakin said: "We shall probably
within the next 10 years.' That was the claim of business
man Mr Graham Deakin as he dealt with a queue of businesses wanting to move into the first phase of the Ribble Valley Enter- prise'Park, on a 25-acre site beside
the A59 at Barrow. Already six organisations are
close to signing up for 60% of The Printworks, a futuristic two-storey block containing 20,000 sq. ft. of offices from which the last builder
left only a week ago. end up with 500,000 sq . ft. of office
space, which means in the region oi 5,000 jo bs in the next 10 years. He said the two-storey block, which
a shortage of office space in the Rib ble Valley.
And they were overjoyed with national figures released last week
, ...
nffi.* mace in the Rib- He said the application f. .
which revealed that the Ribble Valley was the top skilled workforce area out
side London. This would mean that employers
was formally launched on to the mar ket last week, was the start of the
^ "Once momentum starts, it will gather pace,” he added. "That is what we expect will happen here. Such strong interest at this stage is unusual to say the least. It was always believed there was demand for offices in the Ribble Valley, but it is a very brave step to turn that expectation and hope into reality, which is what Hugh Ged- des and his team from North West
Ltd have done." He said they were proving there was
would be even more likely to be attracted to the Ribble Valley. The Mayor of the Ribble Valley,
Coun. Chris Holtom, was shown over the new offices.
Welcoming the development, and ,
the jobs which would be created, he said: "This has been a designated site since the 1930s. We at Ribble Valley say this is one of the very few sites where we can bring sympathetic com
merce into the borough. the area."
Grand Cinema plans dashed after threat by English Heritage
Now group turns to townspeople for help in new community arts centre decision
___ PLANS to convert the
[ town’s Grand Cinema in to a £ 3m.-plus a r ts
showcase have been well an d t ru ly scu p
pered. ■ English Heritage has
dealt all involved a major body blow with the news that it will oppose any plans to demolish the recently- listed Grade II building. The alternative could
exclusive story by Vivien Meath .
"There is no way we want b* jft; possibly by erect to go into ^gal, expensive battles over the York Street
4
now be a totally new design, possibly set on stilts, on a prominent town centre site such as the market car park. The decision now appears
S ' _/AWSON'S CIe/i Cookware I Kitchenware
• Electrical I Lighting • Informal Dining Ware I Cutlery • Ornaments I Crystal • China I Cutglass • Bathroom Accessories • Pictures I Photoframes
m X ■
• Luggage I Leather Goods • Gardening Accessories • Hardware I Plumbing • Paints and Varnishes
• Easy Fit Blinds • Rotary Clothes Driers • Gift Vouchers
OPENING so o n
g a r d e n in g f u r n i t u r e . SHOWROOM
to lie firmly at the door of Ribble Valley Borough Council. It must be made soon, for the Trinity Com munity Partnership and the Lancaster Foundation have made it crystal clear that, with some £200,000 already poured into the York Street building, an answer is urgently needed on whether the town wants a new facili ty fit for the 21st Century or
not.
I HERE is your chance, through out telephone ■ I has a £3m. showcase community arts deveJ°P . f bi hment of the Grand Cinema,
" . . . . i frt iioiro ?i <?av in wh eth er Clith on Monday. 0 9 0 6 9 1 55 2 0 9
Cinema building and duiiu
___ 0 9 0 6 9 15 5 2 1 0
A modest refurbishment A £3m.-plus of the present Grand arts development on
no new build------------ ------- centre site pro™,"t“ *s » ”
— be\r» tnrrmnrarv while bi bullilding work took place. The new design would have to retain - car parking, underneath the
— V tempo ry I’" iffl V* *V'. . 'V 1 r1 '1
site," said Mr John Lancast- Lancaster Foundation fche project. Initiai
the structUre on "stilts" rfhe £3m_ offered by the
er this week. Wecantjusti- would stili be available to go fy the large sum to reach
planning stages and then uiries reveai that there is have it turned down.
HSince hearing of English securing matched funding also a very real possibility of eritage's decision, those which cou]d turn the
involved have spent many h into a £6m.-plus hours trawling around the ^neme
town centre in search of a "Potentially, Clitheroe is suitable alternative site. faced with t he biggest
None can be found. Only opportunity for a new devel- three venues have so far ^ ent in over 10o years,"
council's premises and by the market. Currently, it is ^ ™ nsiP
The loss of parking spaces would, they point out, only
merited further considera- ^ prQject team leader Mr tion, the car parks at Lower- Geoff Jackson. "Not since gate, the rear of the borough ^ Hbrary was bunt has
the latter that all involved make such a big ;mpact on feel would be the best possi- tbe young people of the area ble location.
important building dered that will
and others. I t is time to continued on page 2
Have your say through our phone vote
Who can believe a driver escaped alive
from this wreck? by John Turner
FIRE and rescue crews extricated a badly-injured Langho | woman from her crushed car on Tuesday morning in the
latest of a series of railway bridge crashes. Mrs Gillian Smith (53), of Moorland Road, Langho, ,
tion yesterday was described as "stable . Three fire crews, two from Blackburn, one fro ,
Accrington, sped to the scene just before 8 a.m. Police said the hydraulic arm holding metal tanks on the
back of a Scania truck clipped the railway br‘dge’cfa^ ' ? | the lorry to overbalance and come to rest on the roof of t 'P’-registered Rover Metro, which was being driven m the
opposite direction b y M r s Smith.
The lorry driver, Mr Cavan Maguire (46), of Wilpshire Road, Rishton, escaped injury.
W i l tsh ire
The road was closed for three hours while the debris was removed. Train services were delayed until the bridge was
------------------------- --------------——-----------
eX™ rw ^ yt^ fh i red,Pand most serious, accident at the bridge in a month. (K030401/1)
-
Robert Maxwell’s former PA speaks of the media baron’s nasty ways
"He could always exhibit a nasty, by Robbie Robinson
I A LOCAL co u n c illo r th is week spoke a b o u t h is 16 months as personal assistant to Robert Maxwell, one of the most controversial business and political figures of 20th C e n tu ry B r i ta in , who was heavily criticised in an official report last week.
ruthless side," said Coun. Graham Sowter, a chemistry graduate and former printing industry executive who is now a computer consultant. "If he sensed you were weak in
Maxwell was in the pre-Mirror Group days nearly 20 years ago, fol lowing a period when Coun. Sowter was works director of a printing firm in Blackburn.
.... .11
any way, he was the sort of person who would take advantage of it."
Coun. Sowter is deputy leader of
i the Liberal group on Ribble Valley Borough Council and chairman of Billington and Langho Parish Council. His time with Mr
then Mr Sowter went to a special meeting it held to discuss the takeover from Mr Maxwell. His time in the industry meant he knew many of the top figures present. "Once the meeting was opened to the floor, I stood up and recounted
After buying shares in BPC, the . nrP-Mirror my history with the com] I : in to t h e E-t
Now with 3yr o r 60,000 miles warranty l .3 i e n g in e 3dr • driver’s airbag
Engine immobiliser 1000 stereo radio/cassette
Power steering g e t into th e
BWLAD AAE, CU EROTH E TEL
a AD NS GRG
my history with the company and told them its misfortunes were a result of their not reacting positive ly to constructive criticism. My peroration suggested that the board members offer their resignation. Within 36 hours, Mr Maxwell
tak ia c'
INSURANCE SUBJECT TO CONDITION _ -■ n
had phoned, requesting Mr Sowter to meet him in Oxford. A printing job was in mind. "Like a lot of things that Robert
-(oottoti & (olot/i 0km o r» Fabrics: Wallpapers: Soft Furnishings:
Maxwell initiated, nothing ever • continued on page 2
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was flown by air ambulance to the R o y a l Preston Hospital l for treatment to serious head and leg injuries. Her cond -
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ley Council are determined that any development will be sympathetic with
"The developer here and Ribble val . ,
imes The paper that champions the Ribble Valley cguse_ THE R01URC0ASTER CAPITAl OF THE WORLD
He said the application for the Bentley garage was expected to go
before the council this week, but he believed it would be deferred for fur ther negotiations between the devel
oper and the council. The application to build a 3,000 sq.
ft. 85-seat McDonald's restaurant and drive-through, was submitted to the
council last week. McDonald's, who say they would
employ 60 people on the site, added that the Barrow development was an
ideal location for them. Work is due to begin soon on anoth-
er 40,000 sq. ft. of offices in six two- storey blocks to the west of the recent
ly-completed block. The units will be built around a cen
tral court and water feature. A show unit and sales office for the
• story continues on page 2 HI
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"Ribble Valley Explorer free this week
T H E m om en t th e Ribble Valley has been dreading for weeks came yesterday - foot and mouth disease has been confirmed on a local farm, writes John Turner. Until then, two suspected cases
kxpiorei ii si—
. thR area’s pest tourism ,guiflo. : :f t
Valley’s first foot and mouth case
ably, upset, he said: "It is an awful time. I just want to be left alone." One of the first to be told was
Obviously, and understand
Ribble Valley MP ‘ Mr Nigel Evans.He told the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times: "This is a terrible dis
were cleared, but after an agonis ing overnight wait for the Pye fam ily at Hill Crest Farm, Chipping - seven miles as the crow flies from Clitheroe town centre - MAF1< vets confirmed their worst fears. Farmers in one of the North-
aster for the Ribble Valley." He called on the Government to
come up with immediate help. "People will have no money
West's most prolific sheep areas have been living in fear for more
than a month. Mr Henry Pye said they had to
Tuesday.
wait 12 hours for the results to come through after symptoms were spotted among his sheep on
coming in. The Government really has to announce a package of immediate assistance. The area relies heavily on tourism and has already been hit. This will make matters even worse," he said. Mr Evans said it would be use
less to offer assistance afterwards. Now was when the assistance needed.
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