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Royal site passed for the Duchy
THE head of the Royal Lancashire Show has promised to solve congestion problems at its new site near Preston before this year's show.
Gordon Roberts, chairman of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society, said it will work with the police to ensure rural roads around the site at Myerscough are not gridlocked by 60,000 of visitors this July.
The society yesterday got the green light from planners at Wyre Council to create a temporary showground at the former Moor Nook Quarry site, which will host the show for the next three years.
The plans were passed despite more than 130 letters of protest from locals and official objections from Preston Council and seven parish councils.
Mr Roberts said: “It is wonderful news. We recognise the concerns of local people and have said all along we want to work with everyone to make sure the show is successful. We have a good track record of minimising problems by working with people like police, and we want to do that here.”
During an hour-long debate on plans for the 300-acre site, a packed council chamber heard Peter Crompton of BE Group consultants, who submitted the plan for land owners the Duchy of Lancaster, dismiss opponents as “a very small percentage of the local population.”
Local people then spoke of their fears over traffic and the impact on other local agricultural shows.
But members of the council said the lack of objections from highways officials at Lancashire County Council and the police made the plans “impossible” to turn down.
After the meeting Julia Horn of Myerscough Cottage in Barton said protesters felt badly let down.
She said: “This has been a foregone conclusion for a long time. It has been rubber-stamped by the county council and police without taking the views of local people into consideration.”
The show begins on July 18.
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -4 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
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