Readers' letters - March 3

No joined-up thinking and no infrastructure

Come and live in Cottam if you want to be strangled by road works and temporary traffic lights.

No escape without passing through lights, you cannot plan your journey time because of traffic lights and congestion.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The four-way lights at Nog Tow are there for another few months.

These are proving dangerous as the traffic coming from Woodplumpton is still passing through the junction when the lights have changed.

I have witnessed near misses with HGVs exiting the site and approaching the lights at the same time as cars turning from Lightfoot Lane. At busy periods the vehicles back up to the roundabout at the Guild Merchant.

Hoyles Lane has a new set of traffic lights near Miller Green, residents have lost count of the number of temporary lights they have had to endure.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lea Road has temporary lights near the primary school, this has proved to be horrendous, especially at dropping off and picking up times.

There are lights at both ends of Hoyles Lane. I was sat in traffic queuing on Lea Road, facing towards Cottam, and impatient drivers behind me were pulling out to overtake stationary vehicles in order to turn into Hoyles Lane despite the lights being on red. This will prove to be dangerous.

The grass verges are dug up and left as a muddy mess, will contractors restore these?

The concern of getting young children to local schools and nursery is getting worse. You cannot plan how long it will take, you don’t know what to expect on a daily basis.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We local Conservative councillors are enduring the same upheaval as our residents and are receiving emails and phone calls asking what can be done?

We keep allowing developers to build on numerous sites with different approaches. Despite our best efforts, there is no joined-up thinking and the infrastructure is not in place.

Apart from us who actually cares? Can someone take some responsibility? Planning Department, Lancashire County Council Highways, is anyone listening?

Coun Christine Abram

Cottam

energy

Let’s have a proper debate, Cuadrilla

We have recently had the opportunity to question the regulators, and this week brings the British Geological Survey, which is carrying out some environmental monitoring in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But what is missing, and has been for a long time, is the opportunity to talk to Cuadrilla.

And we residents have lots of questions :

n Why is the pad at Preston New Road (PNR) so very much larger than you said ?

n Do you now intend to drill two laterals from a single vertical well, as implied in The Guardian?

n What environmental monitoring do you intend to do at PNR, how long for and will the results be public?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

n Did the lack of flowback at stage 1 at Preese Hall contribute to the 2.3 tremor in the frack stage immediately following?

And that’s just for starters !

Mark Miller, the previous CEO of Cuadrilla, was prepared to meet the public.

He held roadshows, invited people to the rigs and, in 2012, he appeared on a question time panel in St Annes chaired by our MP –the hall was packed.

Mike Hill CEng MIET is a resident of St Annes with more than 20 years’ experience of the oil and gas industry, Mr Miller welcomed him to the rigs at Preese Hall and Singleton, and Mike was on that QT panel too.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Egan knows what he plans for the Fylde, and Mike Hill has a good idea of what has happened.

Mr Hill has been exonerated by his professional body, of various accusations made against him. He can be trusted to give an independent professional viewpoint.

So, this is a public invitation to Mr Egan, to appear with Mr Hill, engineers both of you, to answer our questions. I can guarantee that the hall will be packed – Mr Egan, will you debate the issues with Mr Hill ?

The public deserves this debate.

Are you game?

T Froud

Lytham

development

I don’t want to live in extension of city

Once again the people of Longridge have been let down by the planning department of Ribble Valley Borough Council.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Longridge’s infrastructure cannot cope with another 275 houses.

I would like anyone on the planning committee to turn right out of College Close or Water Meadows at 8am in the morning and see if they think Preston Road needs more traffic on it.

Not to mention the schools, doctors and dentists.

When planning was passed for Dilworth Hill, I am sure the same concerns were brought up then.

As with all the other building in the town, why were the residents’ wishes not taken into account?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The development at Grimbaldeston is clearly green belt land and will be sold by the ‘local’ consortium to a major housebuilder as soon as they can.

So no benefit to the town at all.

When the first plan was rejected, I felt like at last someone has some sense and is actually listening! Not so.

I have only recently moved back to Longridge, the people are still lovely but I don’t think I want to stay in a place that will become an extension of Preston.

Name and address supplied

politics

Country’s still the envy of the world

In reply to the left wing rant from Jeff McCann (LP February 28), I for one and many others are more than happy with our green and pleasant land!

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With austerity cuts (or sensible budgeting for some), we are getting the finances left by Labour’s ridiculous spending back on track.

It is yet another pop at the elected Government and the leader of the party, who was elected in the way the party elects a leader, and also a veiled dig at Brexit too.

Why can’t folk accept we are leaving the stranglehold of Europe with their potty laws and regulations because the majority of people have had enough?!

Let’s be proud of a Great Britain that’s still the envy

of the world and trading

quite nicely on our own terms.

As for the Labour Party, it currently offers no opposition to the Government and, until the negativity disappears from some of its followers, it never will again!

M Fletcher

via email

development

Lovely area thrown to the wolves

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Whatever development comes to the Pines Hotel site, it would not fully satisfy the voracious lust for building by Chorley Borough Council.

What could happen if Lidl builds on there?

Asda – 400 yards away, which has been hit by cheaper supermarkets already in the area – may “throw the towel in”.

Then on that site one would see – through the eager eyes of the planning department – the mother of all developments.

Let’s wait and see, but whatever, the once lovely rural Clayton-le-Woods and Whittle-le-Woods have been thrown to the wolves.

Sue and Norman Wignall

Whittle-Le-

Woods