Tedd Talks
We’re heading towards uncharted territory as the move towards devolution for Lancashire gathers pace. We need to tackle this issue urgently before it’s too late, writes Live Magazines’ Tedd Walmsley
As our so-called summer comes to a close, there appears to be a number of major developments to discuss and some serious conversations to be had, which will have some long-term implications to residents and businesses alike here in the Ribble Valley.
Let’s have a quick catch up. Those Mumbai streets are now paved (well flecked, maybe, with gold) the roadworks in Clitheroe are now complete and, to be fair, the area looks great!
A whopping 25,000 people attended the Clitheroe Food Festival, so I need to ask the question, what are the plans to bring them back to support a high street that suffered greatly in the early summer?
We now know we have two new MPs for the Ribble Valley – Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) and Jonathan Hinder (Pendle with Clitheroe) – both from the Labour party, and they carry with them a huge burden of responsibility. A new direction to central government policies will have a serious effect on our area, an example being, the target for new homes built over the next few years has now been increased by 300 per cent under the new government. My fear is this will become a ‘free for all’ with house builders taking advantage of these new targets and the relaxation of planning legislation.
On another serious note, have you picked up on the move towards devolution for Lancashire? There is an emergency meeting taking place at RVBC as we go to print to discuss this. I had a meeting last week with the leader of RVBC, Stephen Atkinson, who will have his own column in the magazine next month to discuss in detail, the impact this might have in our area. There is talk of a potential referendum so the residents of the Valley can have their say on this. To give you a flavour of his concerns – imagine if there was no local decision-making, imagine losing the £16m in reserves that, in the past, I have criticised so heavily for the lack of expenditure.
This money would be centralised, with the Ribble Valley merged into East Lancashire, with all of its challenges around child services, social care and education. Some of these areas are the most deprived in the country. I can’t imagine the elected mayor worrying too much about the rural economy and the perceived wealth of our market towns. Would we receive even our fair share of this centralised funding? This is a huge issue and one that I want to start a conversation on now, before it’s too late. Our two new MPs will be voting on the strategy and I think we will need to ask them their views in the very near future.
Have you been following the sale process for Waddow Hall? To remind you, the Girl Guide Association decided to sell off their prized assets as they needed to balance the books with a decline in numbers and increase in costs. I was somewhat flabbergasted to see the outgoing MP Nigel Evans deliver a passionate speech, just before the election, confirming that his contacts had won the bid for Waddow and they would be setting up a new charity.
To say it didn’t go down well with the existing trust, would be an understatement. This group have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to create seed funding and find a way to mount a serious bid. It would appear money talks and they became the second bidder, losing out to the yet-unknown successful new owners.
I’m told that the exchange of contracts is imminent, and my only hope is that the new owners are prepared to work closely with the trust to deliver longevity of the facilities. Am I getting too cynical by fearing the worst? That one day, homes may be built on this prime real estate – surely not?
It’s going to be a very interesting few months as we move towards the end of the year. I’m going to continue to ask questions and start conversations with those elected to represent us, but until our next issue in October, please be kind to each other.
The views above are my own and I’d be delighted to get some replies to my questions and will report back on any progress and positive outcomes.
tedd.walmsley@live-magazines.co.uk
X@TeddWalmsley
