Letters - November 24, 2017

Don't forget why we scrapped trams before
An artist's impression of the tramway extension on Talbot RoadAn artist's impression of the tramway extension on Talbot Road
An artist's impression of the tramway extension on Talbot Road

When I first came to Blackpool 56 years ago, there were trams running in many locations including Clifton Street, Abingdon Street, Dickson Road, Whitegate Drive and Station Road.

Has Blackpool Council forgotten the reason that trams do not now run in these locations? It was because they held up the flow of traffic and because they presented a danger to passengers boarding and alighting from them through having to cross traffic lanes to do so.

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To spend over £21m on a tramway along Talbot Road that will soon become a white elephant and add to the already chaotic traffic congestion in the town centre seems to me to be ridiculous.

While on the subject of traffic, does anybody know why bus stops for various routes in the town centre are in different locations? If a person isn’t a regular user of the bus services, it can be quite confusing to know where to get off one bus and find out where the stop for an onward journey can be found. Surely a bus station interchange with the railway station makes sense. Perhaps it could be located on the Wilkinson’s site!!!

Another scheme that is likely to become a white elephant is the proposed conference centre add-on to the Winter Gardens. It won’t be big enough and there is nowhere to park. Like many other proposals for the development of the town it seems that it is another ‘patch-up’ job.

What this town really needs is a purpose built conference centre/arena. When I read the advertisements in the Sunday papers for star artists they are accompanied by a list of venues.

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In the great majority of cases one location is missing - Blackpool. The obvious site for this type of venue would be the Central Station area as it has possibly the biggest car park in the country. Just imagine the benefits to be gained from the numbers that would be attracted and of the many who would combine a concert with a week or weekend in the town - car parking fees, hotel bookings, visits to the other attractions, etc. If the council can’t afford it, I’m sure a sponsor could be found.

The founding fathers of Blackpool in the 19th century had a vision for the town which was to make it into the place where everybody wanted to go. It’s about time that attitude was resurrected.

Alan Millington

Cornwall Avenue
North Shore


FRACKING

Jog on Netpol, you are fooling no-one

I was shocked earlier this week by how easy it was for Netpol, a front-group for 
anarchist activists everywhere, to pass itself off as a legitimate and respectable human rights organisation.

Ten minutes of internet research soon reveals that the people behind Netpol are a bunch of seasoned activists that attach themselves to all manner of ‘causes’ including protests against McDonald’s in 2003 that saw a number of their restaurants around the country get trashed. They’re not a ‘police watchdog’ either.

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It’s not surprising that they should publish a report that’s critical of the way Lancashire police have handled the anti-fracking protests because the people at Netpol want to make it easier for the national activists to get away with breaking the law!

The letter signed by more than 300 people this summer praising the police for the job they do in the face of really unpleasant abuse and daily provocation shows how much real local people value the work of our bobbies.

Keep up the good work I say, and jog on Netpol, you’re fooling nobody.

Ashley Singh

Kirkham

HERITAGE

Promote town’s 
rich history

After the local news on television, there were clips from the new Heritage Centre at York, including a street scene from the 1600s, with the old shops and businesses as they were then.

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What a good idea. Could this not be done in Garstang, seeing that the market town is steeped in history?

Maybe it could be set up in one of the empty buildings, for instance the council offices?

It could include the historical information about the Garstang to Knott End railway, not forgetting the Pilling Pig train.

I have been to the ruins of Greenhalgh Castle and was shocked to see the information board was illegible.

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What would the tourists think of this? I have made a complaint to Wyre Council, but as yet not got a reply.

I feel that nothing is being done, only a Heritage Trail.

I am sure you will agree that this could bring a large financial gain from tourists to the town.

Colin Keeble

Garstang

MOTORING

Only indicate 
when necessary

Re: Motorists, use common sense (Your Say, November 20).

Just as bad as brake lights are vehicles stopped at traffic light et cetera with indicators on, when it is obvious which way they are turning.

Alan Cross

via email

SOCIETY

Need to tackle

fuel poverty

The North West’s largest pensioner organisation, the North West Regional Pensioners Association (NWRPA), has called on the Government to launch a new fuel poverty commission to urgently address the scale of annual winter deaths among the country’s older population.

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The call comes as official figures show an estimated 34,300 excess winter deaths occurred in England and Wales in 2016/17 – the second highest number in the last five years. This equates to 9,720 more people dying this winter than in 2015/16 and represents a 39.5 per cent increase.

Successive governments have simply ignored the problem of winter deaths among the older population and seem to have a policy of crossing their fingers and hoping things will improve.

Today’s figures show that this policy simply doesn’t work – in fact things are getting worse.

This is a basic requirement of what a decent society should do.

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A fuel poverty commission should be set up as a matter of urgency with the task of finding solutions to this problem such as rolling out a more effective programme to insulate homes, building more suitable properties for older people, raising the winter fuel allowance and tackling the excessive profits of the big six energy companies.

Derek Barton

NWRPA