The Clitheroe Thu rsd a y , M a rch 7th, 2002 No. 6,035 m i r ;1§£§V'


60p on The Mail on Sunday


• > page 16 ^VT A GLANCE


A court hears how a; Valley mein was said to “manage” a large- scale drugs distribution gang.


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Clitheroe is to lose its bus depot as workers are told they will have to transfer elsewhere.


page 3


A regular steam train service is to return to Clitheroe this sum­ mer after a 34-year break. .


m page 11


There is a Royal treat in store for some charity workers.


ii !■ page 3


Tributes are paid to a village’s “old- fashioned” police­ man as he hangs up his helmet after 28 years.


..... page 4


There are sighs of relief as Clitheroe Auction Mart reopens for business.


m — mm. p a g e 5


A Clitheroe vicar has dedicated a chapel and b a p t is try a t a locally-supported AIDS village in Johannesburg.


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LIGHTING UP TIME: 5-58 p.m.


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Editorial e-mail: clitheroc.editorial@


rim.co.uk page 7 house everyone seems to hate by Tim Procter


PROPERTY developer Mr Gerald Hitman has dropped his controversial plan for a large, futuristic Ribble Valley country house because "so many


people seem to hate it". He says that in due course


he will sell the farmland site off Clerk Hill Road, Wiswell — by auction if adjoining landowners do not want it. The plan generated 55


objections from powerful opposing forces, including


nearby residents, councillors


and statutory bodies. Extensive grounds and a


long drive would have fronted the three-level house. It would have had five bedrooms, four bathrooms and numerous fea­ tures including a swimming pool, courtyards and a view­ ing gallery. But Mr Hitman revealed exclusively to the Advertiser and Times this week: "So many people seem to hate it th a t I believe it would be unneighbourly to press on." The Hitman family has


redeveloped from hospital use over recent years. He has always made it clear that building an even more futuris­ tic house on farming land between Deer Park Wood on the edge of Wiswell and part of Whalley Golf Club's course was a commercial proposition. The planning application


ning Inspectorate public inquiry was to be arranged. It would have lasted some


days at least, especially as Mr Hitman was claiming that the house was special enough in design to be allowed in an area of open countryside. However, he has now decid­


was submitted in the name of Brockhall Village Ltd. Ribble Valley Borough Council was unable to deal with it in the time laid down, largely because foot and mouth restrictions prevented ade-


made its home in a prizewin- quate access to the site, ning house at Brockkall ViJ.-.. . So the company exercised lage, which Mr Hitii/ajviiias its right to appeal, and a Plan­


ed to call it a day and told us: "With great regret, I have withdrawn the application. "I think it is a great shame


tha t the house will not be built. The design has received widespread acclaim in archi­ tectural circles and I believe it would have been an ornament to the Valley." Mr Hitman is not com­


menting on the costs incurred by his company in having the house designed and submit­ ting the application, including' research by specialists in vari­ ous fields. The Royal Institute of


British Architects ran a com­ petition to design a futuristic house for the site, with numer­ ous entrants working to the grand scale required to try to convince the planning author­ ities that their vision met the criteria to claim a place in the open countryside. This exception to the rules


9 continues on page 2


Victory in"‘Footpath Closed’ campaign by hotel couple


Success at last as


we step in to help story and picture by JohnTurner


cashire County Council to remove "Footpath Closed" signs once the Adver­ tiser and . Times intervened in a rural controversy. Ribble Valley MP


A WORKER was despatched by Lan­


/AWSON’S


Nigel Evans and Mr Alun Michael, the DEFRA minister responsible for rural affairs, had tried but failed to remedy the


paths problem. A quick call to Pre­


ston revealed that foot­ paths in the Newton area were all open again and there should have been no notices remain­


ing. Mr Jeff Clayton and


his wife, Mrs Barbara Clayton, who run the Parker’s Arms Inn, New­ ton, have spent a month campaigning to try to get the lost walkers back. They have written to


i ,


return. ^ . Mrs Clayton said:


exchange of letters, the A t notices stayed;iip and 7


But despite an he walkers have yet toi^j


"The then agriculture :? minister, Nick Brown,?: was quick enough to ; close the countryside,., now we want somebody to officially open it


again." The couple claim to


have been deprived of between 35 and 40% of their business for the 12 months the footpaths have been closed. They said it was a


is designed to encourage those prepared to enhance the tradi-


vertiser an imes Songs of


n ew s and v iew s from the C e n t re o f the Kin g d om I K 9 pays visit page 3


Business success for pupils


www.eastlnncnshireonlmc.co.uk • P r ic e 50p


TV star at new-look museum


page 8


Big £%m. boost could help local young ride high


SKATEBOARDERS, in-line skaters and BMX riders in Clitheroe could be in line for a £500,000 boost.


i


along for a facility in the Castle grounds, a promised donation of £250,000 from the Lan­ caster Foundation would double - providing a future project received match funding by a body such as Sport England, says Mr Geoff Jackson, chief officer of the Trini­ ty Community Partner­ ship. In a move to generate


If the right idea comes


can be put to Ribble Val­ ley Borough Council to consider in its plans for the Castle grounds. The second meeting,


on Wednesday, March 20th, is for interested adults, such as local resi­ dents, ward councillors and parents, to get together. "We want to come for­


ideas, the partnership this week announced plans for two public meetings. . The first, next Thurs­


day, is for young people to come up with ideas which


ward with some ideas before the council gets its butterfly park up and run­ ning," said Mr Jackson. He said they hoped a


deputation would be cho­ sen as a result of the meetings to pass on ideas to council officers.


Average council tax hits £1,000


COUNCIL tax rates for average properties in Clitheroe have exceeded £1,000 for the first time. And people living in


top properties will find their bills soaring past the £2,000 barrier. The four-figure sum


was the result when the Ribble Valley Borough Council portion was set


on Tuesday! L Coun Peter Redpath,


on the Government's .£1,754.56; Band H, assumption that Council • £2,105.48.


attacked Government' policy. He said th a t to meet increased spending, central government announced increased sup­ port of over 8% to local government. However, the borough council's grant was increased by only 2.7%. He said: "This is based


waste of time applying for Government help for the business they have


lost. Mrs Clayton said: "It


is a load of rubbish. What is the point of deferring your rates or VAT? You have to pay it back eventually. You are only creating a problem for later on." She added: "We have


the Ribble Valley MP and Mr Evans has enlisted the help of Mr Michael.


been told Lancashire is now foot and mouth free. We have started export­ ing live animals again and markets are starting to re-open. The only paths supposed to be


closed are those running through farmyards sub­ ject to D notices. The nearest one to us must be five miles away. "There are some love­


ing that hot only was the countryside open again, but it is safe. "We have tried all


ly walks. People used to go to Slaidburn, park and walk the path beside, the Hodder, come in for lunch and walk back again. We had two walk­ ers in here last week. They were the first for a year and we haven't seen any since." Mr and Mrs Clayton


said there needed to be a major statement made by Government declar­


restrictions still applying


ways in the last month. We contact the county council, they blame DEFRA. You ring DE­ FRA and they blame the county council. You get


nowhere." The couple (pictured) complain that Cumbria, which was affected worse than Lancashire, has been open for some time. Mr Nick Osborne, of


in Lancashire were those which went through farmyards of farms still subject to restrictions. There were 60 farms in the Clitheroe/Gisbum


area and in Dunsop Bridge still subject to precautions. He said it was proba­


ble, because of the scale of the task, that some "Footpath Closed" signs in the Newton area had been overlooked. "We still have a man


Lancashire County Council foopaths depart­ ment, said the only


to the Newton area,” he |


added. In the exchange of let- I


ters from the politicians to the Claytons, Mr Michael wrote: "When we received veterinary advice that using rights of way presented very lit­ tle risk of spreading the disease, we took action to encourage local authori­ ties to re-open their foot­ paths where it was safe to


designated to do this work for another week. I will draw his attention


do so, to encourage visi­ tors back to the country­ side to help prevent many small country hotels and shops from | going out of business."


i.iil


Jobs joy as Time Group looks for extra 200 workers at Simoustone


A COMPANY founded 16 years ago in an office above a greengrocer's shop is looking for more


i • ^ , g 4 > | ■ g -; .- V : - j ’ homewares;:i


than 200 extra workers. The Time Group is creating


the jobs at its manufacturing and administration site at Simonsto'ne, following the group's takeover in January of its rival computer company, Tiny Computers, whose head­ quarters are at Redhill in Sur­


rey. . The restructuring of the


K I


group sees the emphasis now being switched to retailing at


a time when the sale of new personal computers has lev­ elled out. I t forecasts the growth area in future will be in supplying additional items for PC users, items such as upgrades, printer refills and digital cameras.


So far, only a small num­ 1


ber of the'300 Redhill work­ ers have indicated they are prepared to move north after the Tiny establishment clos­ es on May 1st. Many of them are on what is called "gardening leave" so they can consider their futures iri(


preparation for the closure. Time was founded 16 years ago by the Mohsan family in


. Blackburn. Currently the company's workforce stands at 1,500 - 900 of them at Simonstone. Time spokesman Mr Colin


., technicians or administration, sales and help desk workers."


. size of our company and, con­ sequently, we need to recruit a iarge number of skilled people. This could benefit local people who are experienced computer


Middlemiss said: "The acqui­ sition of Tiny has doubled the


The recruitment drive is


already in full swing with the help of the Employment Ser­ vice and Simonstone recruit­ ment agency ADM. Bunley Jobcentre recently


hosted an open day and, as a result, 100 people have


held and representatives of ADM-will be at the Burnley Jobcentre every Wednesday for the next few weeks. . Time expects to be signing on 25 people a week for the ' next eight weeks.


already been interviewed. Further open days are to be


Clitheroe Jobcentre manag­


er Julia Hickmott said: "This is a great opportunity for local people to benefit from the suc­ cess of a large local employer and we are here to make the vacancies as accessible as pos­ sible to all jobseekers." : ADM operations director


Mr Arthur Hassall said: "This is a huge opportunity for peo­ ple with specific IT skills, but we're also looking for people with general administration I and communication skills and it’s an opportunity for people looking for part-time work."


Don’t miss you r free copy of our award-winning Ribble Valley Explorer next week S i p s i


l « M eader of the Council, ■


unacceptable and have set our Council Tax level for a Band.D property at £109.13, an increase of 4.6% - or less than 10 pence per week. This is one of the lowest in Lan­ cashire.". . . • . The figures climb to


Tax rates would increase by 7.7% with local authorities carrying the blame. "We felt that this was


? over £1,000 when'the


taxes?’!or Lancashire County Council and Lan­


: -mil arrive through letter­ boxes. Examples of council


tax for properties in Clitheroe are as follows: Band B, £818.80; Band D £1,052.74; Band G,


cashire Police are added to the final bills which


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