gagr 16 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, May 24th, 2007 www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 1 | Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk


Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, May 24th, 2007 17


Letters to the Editor — Write to: The Editor, Clitheroe Advertiser and Times, ll King Street, Clitheroc BB72EW Editorial e-mail: vivien.meath@eastIancsnews.co.uk Thank you for your


timely warning! I RECIEVED a letter from the “Global Escrow Registry” yesterday saying th a t I had won £6,000 and that I had to pay a fee of £19.95. I really thought the letter was gen­


uine and 1 was going to send them the money today. I brought the letter into work and


showed my boss and he said that I was just to ignore it because it sound­ ed too good to be true. I thought I would check to see if


there was a website anyway and it was then that I came across the arti­ cle on your website saying that resi­ dents in the Clitheroe area had received these letters and it was a scam. If it wasn’t for reading your article


this morning I would have sent the money off, because I always enter lots of competitions on the Internet and I really thought I had won one. Thank you very much for warning


people in your article and I think these people should be caught and sent to prison. It is scandalous.


MRS DAWN BRACKEN, Garstung Avenue, Rollon


Who had the last


laugh in the end? I AM pleased to see Homebase has won its appeal. As the only councillor to vote for


this application I had to endure jeers and derision from the gallery, mainly from one or two well-known retailers in Clitheroe. I looked at the applica­ tion purely on planning grounds and felt we could not refuse it, a decision which the inspectors have now agreed with. The people of Ribble Valley should


let out a sigh of relief as Homebase decided not to apply for costs. If they had done, we could be look­


ing at a bill in excess of £100,000 which would no doubt have been added to the council tax burden. So apart from having a good store


to shop at, Homebase have kept your council tax down. So I close by saying to all those who


wrote nasty letters to me, who's had the last laugh?


HOWARD DOUGLAS, former borough councillor for Chutburn


Friendly man who


will be missed I READ with sorrow of the death of Colin Cooke. I did not know Colin very well, but


came across him several times when walking in the Sabden Valley. He went out of his way to be friendly


and was full of interesting information about the area. As well as producing the video on the


Sabden Way, he also made one called "Owd Pendle" which he told me about and invited me to his home to collect. I had not come across him for some time and often wondered how he was


getting on. I am sure he will be greatly missed.


BILL CAYANAGH, Hillcrest Road, Langho


Making money at


residents’ expense I WRITE with a growing sense of trep­ idation over the plans put forward by Mr Hitman to build “a number of live/work” units on land opposite the Whiteacre lane, Whalley road junction in Barrow. Do us a favour Mr Hitman! Who are


you trying to kid? Why would a group of property


developers want to spend £3m. “improving” Barrow'? The answer is simple; they want to


make money at the expense of the existing residents of the village. The claim that building an unspeci­


fied number of “live/work units” on greenbelt agricultural land will “increase house prices in the village by between a quarter and a third” is sim­ ply a preposterous grandiose and cyni­ cal marketing ploy. How does he know that?


Previous attempts to build on green


belt land have been rejected. Mr Hit­ man is aware of that and in order to stand a chance of getting permission for his development he would have to find some way to present his ideas as finan­ cially attractive to local residents. Thus we have his unfounded and unproven claims. Mr Hitman also says that his part­


ners in this venture, Close Investments Ltd, have bought the “Printworks” office building on the site of Barrow Enterprise Park and th a t “their research indicates that there is suffi­ cient demand for the whole park to be developed”. Great, build your “live/vvork” units there Mr Hitman, leave the greenbelt alone. Mr Hitman states: “The Hitmans


have developed the site of the former Brockhall Hospital into the Ribble Val­ ley’s first new village.” That is exactly the point Mr Hitman, you built on the site of a former hospital, a Brownfield site, use the Brownfield site in Barrow if you must, but leave Greenbelt land alone. Why does Mr Hitman assume that


the residents of Barrow live there because they don’t like it and want it him to improve it. I find this an insult­ ing assumption. I live in Barrow because I like it, I liked i t when I bought my house and I still like it. As for his claims that building his


“live/vvork” units will result in less traf­ fic through the village, bunkum! How can building houses reduce traffic? Traffic through the village would obvi­ ously increase. And not just in Barrow. Whalley at rush hour is a nightmare and residents there will tell you that it is much worse now Calderstones Park is built. Traffic in Whalley would also increase. Mr Hitman tries to push our “green”


buttons by saying the £3m. he proposes to spend on Barrow will improve the environment by reducing emissions from cars and reducing our carbon foot­ print. If he is as altruistic as a “devel­ oper” as he tries to make out, what is he going to do for Whalley residents and


their traffic problems? The answer is simple, nothing, because he won’t make any money from it. Furthermore, Mr Hitman has been


in “discussion with the head teacher of the primary school (who) indicates that places can be found (for the children of) all new residents of the live/work units without having to increase the size of her school”. But, how many live “live/vvork units”


are there to be? He doesn’t tell us. So how can the head teacher say she can accommodate the children of new resi­ dents? Even if this is true vvliat hap­ pens when these children reach 11 years of age? Remember, it was only a cou­ ple of years ago that parents in the Val­ ley were up in arms over plans to bus children to secondary schools in Accrington and Burnley. Do we want a return to that situation? Make no mistake, his “executive” yet


“affordable” (yet another contradic­ tion!) housing scheme, to use up green­ belt land in Barrow, is beneficial only to him. All Mr Hitman wants to do is to add further lining to his already over­ stuffed pockets.


MARTYN LANGAN, TRACEY SIMPSON, Grccnmount, Barrow


All part of our


democratic system THE week before last, you were kind enough to publish some details of pro­ posals we have made to the borough council concerning the future of Bar- row. Last week you published three really


interesting letters from residents of Barrow questioning those proposals and, over the next few months, the debate will swing back and forth until the borough council settles its plans not only for Barrow but for the borough as a whole. This is all part and parcel of the dem­


ocratic system under which we live. The borough council will have to make deci­ sions which will allow development to take place in some locations and not in others. Some householders will see their neighbourhoods improve as a result and some will not. Some site owners will see the value oif their land rise and some will not. Because people’s futures and, frankly, so much money is involved, it is very important tha t the debate should be open and transparent. We were therefore disappointed by a


fourth letter that you also published last week, from a Mr John Willcock. The letter, which was written in that odd variant of English that developers call “planningspeak”, argued that the borough council should concentrate all new developments in and directly adjoining Clitheroe. Though we dis­ agree with that argument and think it is wrong, it is a legitimate argument. However, it would have been nice if Mr Willcock could have told your readers whether he has any personal or profes­ sional interest in any potential develop­ ment land in or on the edge of Clitheroe. Democratic debate demands that sort of honesty and openness.


HARRY AND GERALD HITMAN, The Old Zoo, Broekhall Village


Make helmets


compulsory at park GIVEN the relaxed and surprised reaction to my not very "strongly worded letter", I realise my chosen course of action was the right one. I have worked (voluntarily) with


young people (including five children of my own) for the last 25 years and usually they are not very interested in their own safety, so much so that many end up putting their health and their lives at risk on a regular basis by the time they are 18. All we can do as adults is encourage them to be active and adventurous, but not to take stu­ pid risks. As their skill levels improve all we can do is hope that they have lis­ tened and that they in turn pass on this wisdom to young ones. Wearing a helmet is a “no brainer”. The RoSPA advice on Skateboard­


ing is clear: "Head injuries accounted for around


20% of all injuries. Serious injuries, concussion, blunt trauma,'skull frac­ ture or closed head injuries represent­ ed 3.1% of all injuries to skateboard­ ers. Underdeveloped motor co-ordina­ tion is the main cause of falls to. younger and less experienced riders. “In addition, the smaller the child,


the higher their centre of gravity, due to the larger proportion of their head to body. Because of this, and the inabil­ ity of less developed children to brace properly for a fall, head injuries account for a much higher proportion of injuries for skaters under 10. “Serious injuries would have been


prevented if correct protective gear had been worn. Encourage the wearing of correct ‘gear’. Research indicates that skaters tend to wear helmets, or fail to wear them in groups. If one child is wearing a helmet there is an 85% chance that the next child will wear one. If the first child is not wearing a helmet there is only a 3% chance that the second child Mil. Wearing of wrist protection will greatly reduce accidents and may be perceived as ‘more cool’. On new sites encourage the more expe­ rienced skateboarders to show the less experienced ones how to fall and remind the children that ‘It is not cool to be crippled’.” Just for your information: It is seriously uncool to be super­


vised by your parents, spookily enough parents are in any case, not usually able to supervise their children while at work.


Spending a great deal of money on a


state-of-the-art ’’place to have fun (and sometimes fall over)" and then using "respecting people's decisions" to ignore child safety issues and the responsibili­ ty for ensuring user safety, is weak, spineless and dangerous. "We have a management team who


work closely with the local authority, police and other community groups in ensuring the Clitheroe skate park is an effective facility." - What does that mean? That everyone is involved, but nobody wants to take responsibility? Somebody needs to put a helmet


wearing ethos into that park now! How do you achieve that in an unsupervised park? Well i t will mean the local authority, the police, community groups and yourselves instituting a NO HELMET - NO SKATE policy. Responsible people (from those


groups) checking the site can reward helmet wearers with free "cool" wrist protection and can yellow card non­ helmet wearers with a ban for a day fol­ lowed by a red card with a ban for a w'eek. If the initial "policing" is effec­ tive the users will very quickly learn what is required and because they w'ant to use the facility, it will w'ork. It might mean spending a great deal of time on the new policy initially, but if the area is also covered by the CCTV mobile camera for that period then it will work. I work from Tuesday to Sunday, however I will happily give up Mondays to spend at the park when the new’ policy starts. I would also be happy to attend a user consultation.


JONATHAN SMITH, King Street, Whallcy


Please ring me as I


may be able to help MAY I, through your letters page, appeal for the gentleman who rang me from a train on Friday, May 11th, regarding his son’s interest in bird watching, to contact me on 01200 414267, as I have information that will be of interest to him.


SUE MONK, Castle Cement, Clitheroe


My faith in human


nature restored! SOME weeks ago, after shopping in Tesco, I got home only to find that I had left my handbag attached to an empty trolley. You can imagine my horror! I immediately returned to the store,


more in hope than expectation, and found it at the customer services desk. Through your pages I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to the kind shopper who handed it in. My faith in human nature is restored!


MRS ELSIE BARKER, Downham


Letters Extra- ’ page 31


m Includes Ryecroft Shiraz Includes Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay


views on local issues! Text them now!


We welcome your f ," - 5 t V *.


Text CACOMMENT to 81800


I n b port ?6ji plus standard nppw r i paw isji i t t a - or-r ‘djes US'


An extra 5% off any of over 500 wines


Morrisons Store at: Pendle Street, NELSON. For more information please telephone 01282 449196 or visil www.morrisons.co.uk


DRINKAWARE.CO.UK A vailablc in m“it Subject to availability. Stella Artois 20x250ml £1.80/Ur • draught Guinness £i.90/ltr • Ktonenbourg 1664 £1.67/Itr • Stella Artois 18x440ml £1.77/Itr. ’Offer excludes fortified wine 25tl bottles and price marked reduced wines. More reasons to shop at MORRISONS


Includes Kumala Zenith Chenin Chardonnay


Includes Isla Negra


Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay


RVCCnOP T CHARDONNAY MERIOT


CABERNET SAUVICNON SHIRAZ


Irrry Yi.u.ow i.ARn. South Aiisrr.tli.i Ca b e r n e t Sa u y k i n o n


fhuntHt, null r» • JiU-


tf iMttlut Rose (a t&nX urJffJa, *** SOUTH AFRICA


ISLA NEGRA vi si n\ \


Hi mm t o - ' . k - : . . a i //


Get the drinks in this Bank Holiday


i ____


‘


?~~;20 tSfM vfe? j j H&lra 1 ^ 2 4 *-Sk25 -¥■“26 ■«27 ■*28 1 ^ 2 9 'Y43PJI


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32