■ J '! / 6 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, November 3rd, 2005 vnvw.clitheroetoday.co.uk


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Clifheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 1 i ? . ? '''V7 Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)


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- Write to; The Editor, Clithcroe Advertiser and Times, 3 King Street, Clitheroe BB72EW Editorial e-mail: vivicn.meath@eastlancsnews.co.uk — Escaped patient


- a reassurance MAY I try to answer some of the concerns expressed by your anonymous correspondent about the latest incident of a patient absconding from Kem- ple View. There is a clear need for facts, not panicky or emo­ tive responses. When courts pass sentence


on some violent and some sex offenders, they may direct that the sentence be served in a psy­ chiatric hospital rather than a prison if the offender is judged also to have a mental illness. The choice will depend on


the suitability of the offender for such treatment, the avail­ ability of places and the views of the judge. The whole process is tig h t ly governed by the criminal justice system. In many ways a psychiatric


hospital sentence is more demanding than a prison term. Many offenders only serve half of a conventional prison sen­ tence; 50% remission is the norm. Very seldom is any work done with the prisoner to pre­ pare him (or her) for release. In co n tra s t a p a t ien t who is detained under a section of the Mental Health Act 1983 is subject to an indeterminate period of detention and will only be released when he is considered no longer to present a danger to the public or him­ self. Patients have to undergo a


lot of psychological work and undertake various “offender modules”. They are required to confront their offending behav­ iour, acquire insight into cir­ cumstances that can lead to it and develop coping strategies that will prevent a recurrence. Only when clear progress is made will there be periods of leave. Again it is tightly con­ trolled and subject to the dic­ tates of the Mental Health Act. I t will usually begin with leave within the fenced areas, then to short periods of escort­


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ed leave in the hospital grounds, up to escorted leave in the community and only finally near the very end of the rehabilita tion process to unescorted leave away from the hospital. The law also requires that when a patient is discharged there is a clear aftercare plan, usually direct­ ing where a patient will live. Kemple View only accepts


patients considered suitable for the level of security it provides, which is low. There are hospi­ tals, including some locally, which provide greater levels of security for more challenging and potentially more danger­ ous patients. Admissions and the conduct of secure hospitals are strictly controlled by the Home Office. The hospital is regulated and inspected by the Health Care Commission. Your readers must judge for


themselves whether the process described is preferable to one where a prisoner is decanted straight back into the commu­ nity having served only half a sentence with l i t t le or no attempt to address the offend­ er’s behaviour or any underly­ ing mental illness. I t is also instructive to ask


how stories about p a t ien ts absconding from Kemple View (and sometimes from Calder- stones) reach the press in the first place and give rise to pub­ lic concern. The hospital has a duty to inform the police when a patient absconds either by running away from the hospi­ tal or failing to return from an agreed period of leave. In most cases, I surmise, the police offi­ cer a reporter talks to will have no direct knowledge of the per­ son, who will be from another area. He will not have attend­ ed the trial and heard court reports. He will have no knowl­ edge of the patient’s treatment plan nor the progress he has made while in hospital. The way the story is then written up and the nature and size of the headlines used can blow up


an incident out of all propor­ tion. A story along the lines of "psychiatric patient on leave from hospital goes to London without permission and comes back" will not sell papers. In such circumstances it is


appropr iate to ask if i t is responsible for the police and press to combine in a way that may cause unnecessary public concern, or for politicians to pander to such concerns? If, as I understand, there is


to be an inquiry into the vari­ ous incidents at Kemple View, I will be suggesting th a t it includes an examination of the conduct of police and press in such cases. They both have a legitimate role to play in these cases, b u t they must play it responsibly. In the present case I felt the


Advertiser’s report by Julie Magee was fairly measured, in contrast to the local evening paper, which went over the top. It is wrong to draw conclusions from a single incident, but in the current case the abscond­ ing p at ien t had voluntarily walked into a police station within 26 hours as reported in your article. I think this goes a long way towards vindicating the comments that the spokes­ woman and I made to your reporter.


COUN. GRAHAM SOWTER, Whallcy Old Road, Langho


• The hospital quite rightly


informed the police of the patient’s failure to return. The incident was then dealt with by Lancashire Police’s Public Protection Unit. The u n i t’s press office alerted the media to the patient’s previous crimi­ nal convictions for physical and sexual violence and added, “we believe he may present a risk to the public”. A picture was issued, which we used, and the police asked us to s ta te that anyone seeing the patient should dial 999 immediately and not confront him. The fol­ lowing day, as the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times went to press, we were told by the police th a t he had “ju s t” walked into a police station in London. Fortunately, I was able to pull the page back and bring the story up-to-date. I t is my belief that, with the


exception of the patient, all involved acted responsibly -


Editor An excuse to act


like hooligans THERE I was, thinking that Harvest Festivals were all over for this year - but I’m obvious­ ly wrong. We are still getting harvest offerings - thrown at our windows! First it was the eggs; then we


■-E> ■ L--(f


had tomatoes and, most recent­ ly, rashers of bacon! I’m looking forward to the sausage, but might I request a decent make - none better than Cowman’s, of course - with a few mush­


rooms on the side, please. But seriously, one has to ask


about the mentality of kids who,.presumably, think it is funny to throw food a t strangers’ windows - and also, indeed, inevitable questions about the kind of people who have brought them up (I assume, also, that the food items are being taken from home, so these parents are also paying for the expensive pro­ duce so liberally being shared by their offspring). I t would appear th a t the children involved in our case - although the police have advised me that such behaviour is not restricted to any one part of the town - come from the Balmoral Estate/Ribblesdale Avenue area of town. Hardly a deprived upbringing, then, although there is clear evidence of a lack of moral guidance, which is another kind of deprivation. These children, of course, will


also be those who believe that H a l lo w e ’e n /F i r ew o r k s


Night/Carol Singing etc. pro­ vide them with an excuse to go round the streets creating has­ sle and distress for elderly folk in particular on dark evenings. No doubt their parents will be at home watching the TV obliv­ ious to - and not caring the least - what their little darlings (who can do no wrong) are get­ ting up to. Is it OTT to consid­ er that behaviours which begin with childish “egging”, may later move on to drug/alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity and violence on the streets, simply because of parental ignorance and apathy? By the way, if by any chance


the mums and dads of possible culprits would be interested in knowing whether it was their children involved, then I could show them a yoghurt pot which was also thrown at our window - they might just recognise the make. What the children need to


understand, although I have lit­ tle hope that they will, is that by their behaviour they are simply telling everyone how useless their parents have been at bringing them up. If I were them. I ’d want to keep th a t under wraps! At the very least. I ’d be ashamed that my par­ en ts ’ greatest contribution towards society was that they had nurtured me to become a yob. Furthermore, we have been


speaking to the neighbours and all sorts of incidents are coming to light which ought to concern us all. Around the same time as our garage door was damaged, a car in Hawthorn Place had its back window smashed. I t may well have been the same kids, as they ran by.


THE REV. DR PETER SHEPHERD


• Dr Shepherd has con­


firmed th a t the violence esca­ lated into criminal damage over the weekend. He has now involved the police and has a photograph of the suspects. • We. understand that there


have been various incidences of damage to property over the weekend. • Have “mischief night,”


Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night become an excuse for invading people’s privacy and causing wanton damage? What do you think? Write to us at 3 King Street, Clitheroe


BB7 2EW or write via e-mail: d u n c an .sm ith@ e a s tlan c - snews.co.uk


Pastoral idyll is


a bit far-fetched FOLLOWING Mr Esa’s request for correspondence on the subject of the proposed burial ground at Langho, made in last week’s Clitheroe Adver­ tiser and Times, I have sent him the le t te r reproduced below: Your letter to the Advertiser


and Times is brilliantly com­ posed and worded to create a vision of pastoral and sylvan tranquillity for bereaved fami­ lies and an impression of unselfish support of wildlife and the creation of suitable habitats for many species. Well done. If it wasn't for the


fact that I live right next door to this plot, I might be influ­ enced by your eloquence. How­ ever, you have failed to mention the possible unsuitability of the land due to high water tables, the likelihood of there being extensive old agricultural land drainage systems in situ(func- tional or not) and the very high risk of subsequent pollution of watercourses due to run off from burial sites via any of these land drains which still work. Based on this, I am bound to share the concerns of my one-time neighbour James Ashcroft, whose letter also fea­ tured in the Advertiser along­ side your own. Your reference to rows of


crumbling headstones in our many neglected, abused and often desecrated cemeteries and graveyards is an irrelevence. 'This total disre­ spect for the dead and their descendants is more indicative of a disillusioned and insensi­ tive youth (and, in some cases, adult members of society) than a reason to invade open agri­ cultural land in order to estab­ lish one more of these “new age” , so-called, “natural” bur­ ial grounds. Your plans for this invasion


include a building. Not a small building which might be excused, but one that is nine metres by 33.2 metres. For the non-meteric minds, convert to feet and you get a much better idea of how great a visual intrusion on to an open field. Almost 30ft. deep by almost 110ft. long and with a height of almost 18ft., this a massive visual intrusion and is more likely to detract from the beau­ ty of this open countryside than improve it. There is nothing about your plans which commends them to


me or the majority of people here. If you have an irresistible urge to do something for the wildlife of this rural area, by all means create a woodland and collect all the several grants which are available to help you establish and maintain such a beautiful notion. Add a pond for good measure


and establish idyllic walks for the romantics and educational­ ists among us, but please don't try to confuse such ideals with trying to foist a large building and car park on to this coun­ try s id e , with subsequent increases in traffic and light pollution (however low level and unobtrusive”). As for any religious aspects


in relation to this project, they are completely irrelevent. I wish you success in all your affairs, but never this.


BRIAN HAWORTH, Langho


Owners failed


to tidy up land I AM writing to reply to Sabir Esa’s letter regarding the pro­ posed multi-faith burial ground a t Langho. Mr Esa mentions th a t his


proposed site will include many exotic flowers and wild growing flowers aimed at improving his proposed cemetery’s appear­ ance. However, I am concerned


th a t neither Mr Esa nor Mr Hitman, who sold the land to Mr Esa, have complied with any control of the weeds for the past three years on this land. Under the Weeds Act 1959,


the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, may serve an enforce­ ment notice on an occupier of land on which one or more of th e five injurious weeds are growing requiring the occupier to take action to prevent weeds from spreading. The Act permits Defra offi­


cials to enter land to inspect whether an enforcement notice has been complied with. If an occupier has unreason­


ably failed to comply with the notice, he or she shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction liable to a fine. The Act also contains addi­


tional powers, which enable the Secretary of S ta te to take action to arrange for the weeds to be cleared and recover the cost of doing so, if necessary through the comts. The five weeds that this leg­


islation applies to is spear this­ tle, creeping or field thistle, curled dock, broad leaved dock and common ragwort. Local farmers and the council


have to follow this Act for the protection of the local commu­ nity and wildlife. Is Mr Esa going to comply


with the law or will a poorly- thought-out cemetery simply encourage more breaches?


J. TURNER, Langho


r a i I US TODAY FOR AFREE


www.clitheroetoday.co.uk


Go-ahead for plans on former depot site


_________ by Natalie Cox_________


CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a range of accommodation at the Kir- moor Road depot have finally been approved. An application to construct five family


houses, two bungalows, one special needs bungalow and 14 apartments was given the go-ahead a t a meeting of Ribble Valley Bor­ ough Council’s Planning and Development Committee. Despite receiving 16 letters of objection


from nearby residents, noting that the scheme was for family housing rather than for elderly persons and raising concerns over traffic implications - councillors agreed with officer recommendations and approved the proposal. In a report to committee the county sur­


veyor said the plan would “not result in any significant increase in traffic movements”, adding that its proximity to Clitheroe cen­ tre afforded “satisfactory” alternative modes of travel as required in Government


guidance. And in the report comments from Clitheroe Civic Society were also noted. Although welcoming the principle of


high-density residential accommodation, the society said it regretted that the exist­ ing highway access was not being made use of.


In giving detail about the application, a


report to committee stated that the five houses would be set as semis and in a ter­ race of three, with a pair of two bed/three person disabled accessible bungalows and a four bedrooih bungalow incorporating staff sleepover/office accommodation, together with a two-storey block of 14 flats which would have six two-bed and eight one-bed flats. Planning officers said that the develop­


ment provided “an affordable housing scheme on a brownfield site”, with the council’s housing manager noting that it made good use of a redundant brownfield site, improving the area and contributing to the council’s ambition of matching housing supply and demand. The report added that the apartments and supported housing


From Brungerley Bridge to Brooklyn


A CLITHEROE businesswoman is going through the final stages of her gruelling training regime before jetting out to New York to compete in the world-famous state­ side marathon. Jo Evans, pictured, who is projects man­


ager a t both Hyndburn Enterprise Trust and Ribble Valley Enterprise Agency, will be raising money for North West charity 21st Century Kids and flies out to the “Big Apple” tomorrow in time for the 26.2 mile race two days later. Backed by sponsors from the business


world, as well as her family and friends, Jo is close to reaching her target £2,000 donation to the charity, which is dedicated to raising money for North West children who are suf­


fering from the effects of abuse, neglect, poverty, deprivation, illness and disability. “Everyone’s been fantastic; from local


companies who sponsored me to friends, family and work colleagues who’ve heard nothing but marathon-talk from me this last month and to everyone from Clitheroe and beyond who came to my Charity Race Night and helped me. “Training has been tough, but really


rewarding. I feel fitter than I ever have done before and am hooked on running. I’ve even signed up to do the Great North Run next October. I’m so excited I can’t wait to get to thatstart line!” said Jo. For more information or to sponsor her, call Jo on 01200 443402 or 07782163182.


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bungalows would be rented at social hous­ ing levels, with the five family houses and two bungalows being sold on a shared own­ ership basis providing “much needed low cost opportunities for local people”. Although the site is visible from various


vantage points within the town, the officer concluded that “after careful considera­ tion”, they did not believe the works would appear “unduly conspicuous either in the immediate or wider street scene.” The report ended saying: “Whilst this


development will change the outlook for dwellings surrounding the site, I do not con­ sider that, as proposed, the scheme would cause significant harm to those residents and thus recommend accordingly.” In summary the planning officer con­


cluded: “The proposal has no significant detrimental impact on nearby residential amenity, nor would it have an adverse visu­ al impact or be to the detriment of highway safety,” and recomended the scheme be approved subject to conditions. Committee members agreed and approved the plan with conditions.


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Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, November 3rd, 2005


What’s on in the Ribble Valley - turn to page 19


PENDLEx


TRADINGIES


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