Letters - September 20, 2016

The council has already stated this “folly” is to attract tourists to come and stay in Blackpool. This requires tourists to alight from their trains with their luggage and to use the trams, rather than taxis to get to their hotels. Fact – the vast majority of hotels are nowhere near the tram route!

I recently received an email reply to a question addressed to Blackpool Transport – “Would tourists be allowed to travel on public transport with their luggage or would this be classed as a safety issue?”

Answer – “If you have luggage with you that would block aisles, then I suggest taxis would be the better option due to health and safety restrictions!We cannot have aisles on trams or buses blocked!”

This appears to be a damning indictment of this scheme!

Admittedly we do not have hoards of tourists alighting from trains and piling into dozens of taxis, but it only needs a couple with luggage to make this scheme unworkable. Hopefully, there will be appreciably more tourists or Blackpool really is in trouble.

Trams and buses in Blackpool do not have facilities for carrying luggage. The odd wheelchair is allowed, usually one per vehicle, but where would they put a suitcase?

The facts above prove that the main reason given for this extension – transportation of tourists – is a total dead duck.

I am still waiting for someone to explain, in light of the horrendous congestion all over Blackpool, how two hunking great humps of metal 106ft long travelling up and down Talbot Road all day is going to alleviate congestion.

Come on Blackpool Council, emerge from the bunker and give us answers.

Jack Gledhill

Gainsborough Road

Blackpool

TRANSPORT

Nimbys place Wyre’s future under threat

Much-needed improvements to the A585 are once more on the agenda, with the usual suspects up in arms again about how it will affect the tranquillity of their particular neck of the woods.

The simple truth is that the A585 is the artery along which the commerce of most of Wyre flows, both from the urban core and from the rural lands across Shard Bridge.

In the past, opposition and division to highway improvements have seen the port of Fleetwood strangled and shut, Hillhouse fragmented and fewer local people employed in well-paid jobs.

It is just too much to contemplate these areas affected in marginal ways, and an area that will hardly see its commercial health miss a beat, once again hold Wyre’s business community and commercial future to ransom in a fit of NIMBYistic pique.

The A585 is the gateway to the M55 and crucial to the prosperity of Wyre. Improvements must not be kicked into the long grass once again by short-sighted interest groups, putting in jeopardy the commercial future of Wyre and the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone.

Gordon McCann

via email

HEALTH

A week to help 
your local hospice

We would be delighted if your readers could show their support for Hospice Care Week (October 3-9) and take time to learn more about hospice care in their local community and the support offered by Trinity Hospice.

Every year, Trinity touches the lives of around 8,000 people across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. This support takes place not only in the hospice, but in patients’ homes day and night, at the hospital and in residential care homes.

A hospice is so much more than a building, and hospice care is unique to the individual, helping those with a life-limiting illness to live life as fully as possible.

The theme for Hospice Care Week this year is ‘Hospice Care Is…’ and we are keen to show just how varied and surprising Trinity’s work can be, remembering that everything Trinity does is only possible because of the dedication of our skilled staff and volunteers, and the generosity of supporters in our communities.

We invite people to show their support on social media during Hospice Care Week, and to share their thoughts and experiences of what #hospicecareis to them.

For more information visit www.hospicecareweek.org.uk

David Houston

Chief Executive

Trinity Hospice

WILDLIFE

Where have all the sparrows gone?

I have a large tree that I originally bought from Woolworths 50 years ago, and named the Tree of Heaven.

Up to a couple of weeks ago we have had all sorts of birds in the garden, but now all the sparrows have gone.

They used to bathe in a bird bath. Is there a reason for their demise?

Mr RC Carter

via email

CONVENIENCES

We need a place 
to spend a penny

What is wrong with Blackpool Council? They are proposing to extend the tramway up Talbot Road at a cost of several million pounds, yet they can’t provide any public conveniences in the town.

We came into town for the fireworks on Friday and couldn’t find one public loo. There is one at the bottom of Victoria Street, which always seems to be locked. Get your act together Blackpool.

Robert Danson

via email