The issues that matter to you - Letters July 9th

The hot topics of the week are: student accommodation, caring councillor, kite festival, charity skydive, The Most, traffic measures, Battle of Britain
Galgate MillGalgate Mill
Galgate Mill

MILL PLANS: Parking issues

After reading the write-up in last week’s Lancaster Guardian, regarding the plans to convert the five-storey former Galgate Silk Mill into 100-plus student apartments, I’m both surprised and dismayed that, although there is clear support for the scheme to go ahead, no one bothers to mention the parking, or the lack of it.

Clearly the tenants of these100 plus apartments would require vastly more parking spaces than the four stated on the plans, plus the five disabled places.

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What concerns myself and my fellow business owners, is that if this scheme is given the go ahead, we, the businesses of Galgate Mill, will no doubt find that our parking spaces have been taken over by the tenants of this student development, causing disruption and problems for the 20-plus businesses that operate out of Galgate Mill.

The alternative would be for the occupants of the planned development to park on Chapel Lane and the surrounding roads, but photographs sent into the planning office show the extent of the congestion that already exists in the areas.

There is also the ongoing issue of pedestrian safety, up and along Chapel Lane due to lack of pavements, especially in the most danderous area between the narrow section between the mill buildings.

If this development gets the green light it will be even more dangerous especially for the groups of primary school children that regularly walk up past the mill to the nearby church.

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I’m all for the Mill to be preserved and converted, but not if it jeopardises the safety of the public, and the future of Galgate Mill businesses.

Bill Suthers, Galgate Mill

JOYCE TAYLOR: Dedicated to helping

Joyce Taylor has been a very hard working and caring councillor.

A relative of mine had concerns for some considerable time and had been trying to get help from the council and had also approached two councillors only to be told that nothing could be done.

She then wrote a letter to outline the facts, as she was elderly she did not give her name and address, yet on reading the letter Mrs Taylor not only sought her out but through hard work and perseverance sorted the problem.

K Griffiths, Heysham (Full address supplied)

KITE FESTIVAL: Seaside is in the pink

I’ve been to see the kites today in pretty Morecambe Bay,

The sun shone down,the wind blew well, a really ideal day.

The kites were very varied, in colour and in shape,

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Not like the ones we used to make with paper and sticky tape.

Some were fastened to the rails, some anchored in the sand,

You had to be quite strong to hold one in your hand.

Some of them were funny ones, a rocket and a cow,

Another was a diver, with a little fish in tow.

One was quite nostalgic, remembering World War One ,

It’s good to honour our heroes, under the summer sun.

So, Morecambe is not a “has been” town, as many seem to think,

It’s a bright and busy seaside town, and today it’s “in the pink”.

Wendy Chapman (email supplied)

HEART CHARITY: Reach for the skies

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is urging people in Lancashire to take to the skies and fight back against the single biggest killer in the UK.

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By signing up to do a tandem skydive for BHF, not only will you have the thrill of your life by jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet, you’ll also get to help others by raising money for life

saving research into heart disease.

The training and jump, which is completed on the same day, is available at 20 drop zone locations throughout England, Scotland and Wales, including Cockerham in Lancaster, in partnership with specialist parachute company provider, UK Skydive.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to raising money, and if you reach over £400 in fundraising, you’ll be able to jump for free.

Heart disease is responsible for over 2,800 deaths in Lancashire each year, the equivalent of

seven people every single day.

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We are appealing to the people of Lancashire to sign up today, become a heart flyer, and help us continue our fight to save more

lives.

To find out more and to sign-up, visit bhf.org.uk/heartflyers

Beck Bayram, Heart Flyers Team, British Heart Foundation, 180 Hampstead Road, London NW1 7AW

MUSICAL PLEA: Where are The Most?

I’m hoping readers can help as I am drawing a blank at the moment.

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Many many moons ago, I was in a band called ‘The Most’ and your paper wrote a small feature on us in 1995/96.

This is a long shot, but how do I access archived articles??

I wish to get in touch with one of the band members of which I cannot remember his name.

Can anyone help?

TRAFFIC MEASURES: Common sense

Brian Jefferson’s proposals to get the traffic moving (Ideas to Mull over for our congested city) contain some refreshing common sense, after the years of totally confused thinking in council and negative proposals by the Green Party, which proposed almost removing cars from our roads altogether.

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Perhaps we should go even further and go back to the clearer thinking of yore, when the taxpayers of Lancaster bought all

the properties which have now been converted into car parks to the East of the city with the aim of creating a fast route through town.

Let us reverse the foolish handing over of this land for 250 years to Centros/British Land to create a similar system to that of Stoke-on-Trent, so that traffic coming from Caton Road

can move quickly to the major centres of employment, city centre,

the hospital and the University.

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Traffic leaving this ‘Spine’ would do so by a high-speed roundabout, as suggested by Mr Jefferson, to access the bridge to Morecambe and the A6 North without any traffic lights.

Further roundabouts would allow access to the other areas mentioned without having to come to a complete halt. A similar spine would allow traffic to bypass the present traffic jams to the West of the city, emerging onto the Quay and merging with other traffic.

Stoke has overcome the problems of cross-traffic by vehicles and pedestrians by lowering the high-speed road into semi-tunnels, which allows the ( mainly pedestrian ) traffic above to move without hindrance.

Funding for this would be a priority, as we now have worse traffic flows than anywhere except Kensington and Chelsea.

Our biggest problem is the council.

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The Labour Group is committed to the mistaken principle that a major supermarket next to the Dukes and a high-cost supermarket opposite the University will improve matters.

It can only make them worse.

Keith Sowden, 2 Stephens Grove, Overton, Morecambe

BATTLE OF BRITAIN: Anniversary tomorrow

From Friday July 10 and continuing throughout the summer, people across the country will be marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

As we recall those fateful days and celebrate the bravery of the airmen involved, we also remember our enduring debt of gratitude to all who serve or have served.

The RAF Benevolent Fund believes it is important for the country to share in the memory of that battle,

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which played out in the summer skies overhead and saw the heroism of The

Few save Britain from invasion.

We want to invite people across the UK to join us in showing their thanks for The Few and celebrating a defining moment in our nation’s history.

That is why we are launching the RAF Benevolent Fund’s inaugural Great British Sunday Lunch – a chance for families, friends and communities to gather together on Sunday September 13 to host their own lunch, whether it be around the dining table or on a picnic rug in the late summer sun.

We hope your readers will join us in honouring The Few and helping us raise vital funds so we can continue to support RAF veterans, serving personnel and their families.

Your readers can find more information and

sign up at www.rafbf.org/gbsl.

Air Marshal Christopher Nickols, Controller, RAF Benevolent Fund, 67 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AR

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