Readers' letters - July 21

This week Lancashire County Council (LCC) will vote to allow its own planned new road access to the M55.

Ignoring all the ‘reasons’ put forward by Preston City Council for its inception (only after money was allocated for it, did LCC even carry out a driver survey), the completion will mean that for the first time in UK motorway history, a junction will have been created mainly to serve a housing project.

This was admitted to by LCC engineers at a presentation.

Thus, the simple conurbation of Preston (pop. 142,000) will gain its fourth motorway junction, which is only achieved elsewhere in the UK by towns twice its size.

Motorways are meant to enable long journeys to be eased, this road will increase congestion at the Broughton Interchange during peak times where essentially a poorly designed dual carriageway fails to cope with even moderate modern traffic.

Preston will continue for decades to be one of the slowest cities to pass in the UK. The money should have been spent on upgrading the interchange – not on this poorly conceived and justified back road to a housing estate.

Howard Morgan, Kirkham

Welcome to new Britain

Whether one voted Leave or Remain in the recent referendum, the time has surely come to grasp the yoke of freedom driving Britain forward at a pace that will inspire Europe and the world.

Belief in ourselves is paramount now. No more ‘can’t be done,’ no more clichés, no more meaningless slogans.

No need for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to promise Manchester and the surrounding districts, including Chorley, a ‘Northern Powerhouse’.

Thinking back, we used to be a powerhouse. Remember ‘Cottonopolis’ when this part of the world spun the cotton, cut the cloth and clothed the world?

How short our memories, how lacking our self-belief.

Well, it’s time we woke up to this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Lick our Remain wounds if we must, but heal we will and in the healing will come entrepreneurs, ideas and inventions showing disbelievers everywhere a Britain free from the rule of others – a New Britain, an independent Britain one that is in the world and welcomes the world.

In short, we are free of the rope – the Europe Union – from which we have hung too long.

Joe Dawson, Chorley

Bus situation 
is dangerous

I have sent numerous emails and had two meetings. However, the problem regarding buses to Cottam still remains.

The 43 and 88 buses to Cottam continue to park up outside the Ancient Oak on Merrytrees Lane.

Since the refurbishment of the Ancient Oak, it has become very busy.

Bus drivers sit and read or get out and smoke at these stops. This is causing a dangerous situation. Coming from Cottam Green and turning, you end up behind a parked bus forcing you to pull out opposite the entrance to this busy pub. In the other direction, vehicles exiting the pub cannot see oncoming traffic because of the parked buses.

Residents regularly inform me of near misses when overtaking the stationery buses.

The solution seems simple, do not allow the drivers to park up here, and change this to a stop on Cottam Way where there are no houses.

The route has been designed to take far longer than is necessary with five minutes from the Ingol stop to Cottam.

It will never take that long, hence the bus parking to waste time.

I am asking again for Preston Bus to act before an accident happens outside the Ancient Oak.

Coun Christine Abram, Cottam

Seventy years of immigration

In LEP letters, the Chorley resident, at best, reconstitutes history (LEP July 13).

In 1948, the celebrated S.S. Empire Windrush brought 500 Jamaicans to these shores.

In the 1950s, Prime Minister Macmillan toured the West Indies, asking residents to come to the ‘motherland’.

As minister for health, Enoch Powell encouraged the biggest wave of immigration this country has ever seen.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the NHS and other public services could not have operated without immigrants from the West Indies and sub-continent.

We have been a multi-cultural society for nearly 70 years.

If the letter writer’s residential area, and other areas in which they visit, do not reflect in some ways the joys of multi-cultural Britain, then they have missed out big style.

Graham Nelson, Preston

Hypocrisy of junior doctors

If a junior doctor, their parents or anyone else they are fond of, had an accident on a Friday night, Saturday or Sunday, they would expect to have them looked after immediately.

If it was a fire, car accident, burglary, assault or any other incident, they would be angry that the police, ambulance drivers , fire and rescue teams, and air ambulances do not work on weekends, especially Saturdays.

It is well past time these medics joined the real world and practise what they preach.

After all, they have sworn the Hypocritical Oath.

After all, the rest of the world fills supermarkets shelves and endless other tasks over night to serve the customers.

Dans abode at Clayton le woods

Woman in photo was my mother

I have just read the LEP, in particular the caption under the Looking Back picture showing the council inspection of the tug Frank Jamieson (LEP July 19).

I was rather surprised to see the lady in the light coloured coat identified as Alderman Florence Hoskin when in fact the lady is my mother Alderman Marion Hill. Some of the others in the photo are Coun Weir, Wignall, Knowles and the Town Clerk Mr Lockley.

Kenneth Hill via email