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DUKES REPLACES ABC
6/12/02: The Dukes is offering a non-stop film season for most of next year in a welcome move to fill the gap left when Lancaster's ABC Cinema closed earlier this year. But the theatre will still be running plenty of plays in its studio, and at Williamson Park.
In addition to a number of quality touring shows, the Dukes Spring 2003 programme includes its own productions of Educating Rita by Willy Russell and Oleanna by David Mamet, which will be performed from 14 February - 29 March. Both plays are about a university lecturer and a female pupil, but that is where the similarities end! Written a decade apart and on either side of the Atlantic, Educating Rita and Oleanna explore student/teacher relationships - but on a another level they are about how men and women interact and how this is greatly influenced by changes in society.
The open-air production in Williamson Park, Lancaster, this year is Grimm Tales adapted by Carol Ann Duffy.
The new film season will run continuously from January to September.

MUSIC CAMPAIGN MOVES UP A GEAR
5/12/02: Local musicians are seeking changes to proposals which could mean pubs and bars without an entertainment licence will no longer be able to host gigs by solo performers and duets, as they can now.
It's feared much of Lancaster's thriving local music scene could be devastated if government plans to change licensing laws are approved without changes. Musicians want people to ask their MPs to support a parliamentary Early Day Motion which offers a better solution than the "ludicrous" proposals currently on the table.
The call from musicians comes as part of a long-running campaign by the Musicians Union to ensure the reform of Public Entertainment Licensing, currently under review.
A White Paper on licensing laws was released in 2000, which indicated that the government's intended reform is to ban all entertainment in pubs etc. unless the pub is licensed -- the cost of which would be prohibitive to most pubs.
The current penalty to the unlicensed landlord, who kindly lets musicians perform, is unlikely to change -- up to £20,000 fine and six months in jail -- whatever the outcome of the changes of law and it will be enforced.
Landlords faced with hefty expenses to obtain a licence or a hefty fine will probably tell performers to go. Folk clubs, jazz sessions, sing-arounds and dance outs could all come to an end.
"This will have a disastrous efffect on the live music scene," local muscian Jon Moore told Virtual-Lancaster, "I find it unbelieveable that a government that purports to respect the cultural industries should set out to destroy all forms of music making."
David Heath MP for Somerton and Frome, has put down an Early Day Motion which musicians are asking people to support, stressing the cultural and economic value of a thriving grass roots entertainment sector, emphasising the absurdity of the current two in a bar rule, and calling on the Government to introduce a new licensing Bill in the next Queen's Speech.
Nearly 200 MPs have lent their support to the motion so far and the Musicians Union is determined to ensure the campaign on the issue remains high on the political agenda.

• The PEL Campaign Read Jon Moore's feature on the dangers facing the local music scene
• More information on the camapign and what the proposed reforms could mean for public entertainment on the Jazzworld site: Go
(A great site about local jazz, by the way!)
• Sample letters for MPs on the English Folk Dance and Song Society web site: Go
• BBC News story on Billy Bragg-led publicity for campaign in November 2002: Go
• The Musicians Union

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS
6/12/02: A White Christmas is guaranteed in Lancaster this year, together with other familiar 'classics' from Elgar's 'Little Bells' to Paul McCartney's 'A Wonderful Christmas Time'. Alasdair Malloy and the Northern Chamber Orchestra are returning to The Great Hall, Lancaster University, on 22 December with their 'Countdown to Christmas' extravaganza. And don't worry if you don't know all the words, as song sheets will be provided for all the singing bits.
Part of the Lancaster International Concert Series, this afternoon concert is a real treat for children and their families and is designed to help everyone relax and recapture the magic of Christmas.
One of the Britain's most respected and sought after percussionists, Alasdair Malloy is a virtuoso performer who's infectious enthusiasm, sense of fun, and flair for the theatrical enthrals audiences of all ages. His performances include such instruments as mouth organ, accordion, spoons, jews harp, steel drum, glass harmonica, bagpipes, swanee whistle - and an instrument of his own called "The Incredible Hornonium".

AN AUCTION OF PROMISES
6/12/02: Real Planning for Lancaster has organised an auction of promises as a special fundraiser event coming up at the Gregson (Wednesday 18 December). The idea of the event is to offer items for auction that money couldn't necessarily buy. The auctioneer will be Graeme Kirk -- star of stage, radio and auctions like this. The event has already been donated a meal for two with wine in the Gregson cafZ, a £30 haircut at Changes and a picture by well known, talented artist Sam Rogers.
Admission will be £2.50 on the door and the event starts at 8.00pm. Anyone wishing to donate an object or a promise, please contact Sue Paylor on 01524 65167.

RECYCLING BOOST FOR LANCASTER
6/12/02: Residents are set to benefit from improved recycling facilities following Lancaster City Council's successful bid for National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Funding.
Building on the success of the existing recycling pilot schemes within the district, the bid for funding will help to introduce wheeled bin and kerbside recycling to a further 14,000 households.

YOUTH TAKES ACTION
6/12/02: Skerton Young Peoples' Action Group has recently acquired funding for a Teen Meet shelter for young people to use to socialise, and 'hang around' with their mates. Now the group is consulting the local community to ensure the Meet is located on the right site, with King George's playing field the preferred choice of the Group and local teenagers who have helped plan the project.
SYPAG was set up earlier this year after the police presented statistics which showed that around 50 per cent of all 'juvenile nuisance' calls in Lancaster come from Skerton.
The Group soon discovered that much of the problem could be down to the lack of facilities available to young people in the area. The Venue is the only club regularly open to the 13-19 age group, but it's tiny and located in Ryelands Park -- the scene of several recent muggings -- which is very poorly lit. The nearby tennis and basketball courts also suffer from poor lighting and only have one entry/exit point. Elsewhere in the ward there is very little for the young people to do.
As well as supporting the renovation of St Joseph's Hall in Aldrens Lane, SYPAG is campaigning to have the lighting improved in Ryelands Park which will benefit all Skerton residents, not just its youth.
But a major plan is to start the Teen Meet on King George's playing field, created with ideas from local youth on its design. Now SYPAG is seeking support for the plan from the local community, to ensure The Meet is sited in the most appropriate site. Leaflets will soon be circulated in the area with a map giving our views on potential sites, but SYPAG needs to know what locals think of the plans.
"It's intended to provide lighting to ensure the Meet is a safe place to visit," said a spokesperson, "and it will serve as a focal point for the various Youth Work teams. The Police and Community Wardens fully support the idea, and are involved in the consultations with young people."

COULD IT EVER HAPPEN HERE?
6/12/02: A city where the streets are cleaned every day -- the same streets - and public transport runs the same route every ten minutes? Open public toilets? With attendants to discourage misuse? Where, when a child drops a piece of litter they are admonished to pick it up - until they do so? Where people conscientiously scoop dog poop? Where you can see EEC money actually being used with restoration work? Surely some mistake. But no. A short trip to Venice, Italy (yes, they have streets as well as canals), shows it can be done. Just not here, apparently. (Oh, and no Christmas decorations in September, either - they were just being put up at the start of December. What must they be thinking, keeping the festive season special like that?).

Wouldn't it be great to have traffic as sparse as this scene on Owen Road this summer outside school term -- all year round?

SHARE YOUR CAR!
5/12/02: A new vehicle share scheme for Lancaster may just help to cut traffic, save drivers money and help the environment.
Plans are afoot for a vehicle share scheme called Lancaster Wheels which would operate as a club. Cars and bikes would be owned or leased centrally, are parked locally in the neighbourhood, and the members book and use them for as little as an hour.
"Schemes like this have been operating successfully in mainland Europe for over a decade," explains Martin Clarke, one of the scheme's organisers. "Similar schemes are now seeing huge popularity in other towns and cities in the UK. Participants pay an annual membership fee and simply have the use of a communal vehicle when they need it. Lancaster has all of the elements which would make such a scheme work well."
Alistair Kirkbride, who is involved in the project and works setting up such clubs in rural areas on north-west England says "The beauty of the idea is that everyone benefits -- members can use vehicles without the hassles of ownership, and experience shows that they save money. There are clear environmental benefits as well as combating congestion and parking problems.
"Councils are usually enthusiastic as car clubs can help to achieve traffic reduction targets without imposing restrictions on residentÕs mobility".
Lancaster Wheels envisage that as the scheme matures, a range of vehicles may be provided from two wheels to a van.
The need to reduce car use in the UK is urgent. Air pollution could be killing at least twice as many people as officially estimated, the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection claimed today.

• If you would like to find out more about the idea, and have the opportunity to make an input to the planning, a presentation and question and answer session is to be held at the Gregson Centre, Moor Lane on Wednesday 11 December at 8.00pm. Alternatively, contact or phone Lancaster 847938.
• More local car sharing opportunities: Go

ENGLISH COXES IN GLOBAL COMPETITION
4/12/02: Two thirds of the apples on sale in almost all local supermarkets at the height of the British apple season this year were imported, and English Cox apples are cheaper in Spar shops and greengrocers than in big supermarkets, a survey carried out by North Lancashire Friends of the Earth has found.
The survey, carried out over the last weekend of October, included 19 shops, from major supermarkets to market stalls, in the Lancaster District, was part of a national survey carried out by Friends of the Earth.
Most supermarkets had apples from the southern hemisphere - where it is now spring, and not the apple season, including Cox apples from New Zealand, found in Safeways. The best major supermarket was Booths, where around half the apples were English and no apples were from outside Europe.
The survey clearly showed that supermarkets do not give farmers or customers a good deal. The average farm gate price for English Cox apples this season was £0.33 per kg [1] but supermarkets were found to charge up to 1.99 per kg. English Cox apples were cheaper in the seven Spar shops, greengrocers and market stalls visited than in all the supermarkets, except for Kwik Save.
"The results of this survey show that the supermarkets are more likely to charge more than smaller shops and stalls for English apples whilst also giving lots of shelf space to imported apples," commented Mary Chabrel of North Lancashire Friends of the Earth. "This means that producers of British apples are losing out in their competition for customers; meanwhile the customers are losing out because fewer British varieties of apples are available at reasonable prices.
"Shops and supermarkets should be promoting fruit that is fresh and local rather than out of season and tired from its journey in storage across 20,000 kilometres."

BEHIND THE SCENES OF WORLD CONFLICT
3/12/02: Hest Bank-based academic Doctor Graham Kemp will be giving a talk on world conflict next Tuesday (10 December), at the Gregson Centre.
Dr. Kemp, who is editor of the Journal of Conflict Processes and co-ordinator of the Lentz Foundation, a registered charity engaged in peace education and peace research, has written extensively on the subject of conflict studies and conflict resolution, including non-violent direct action.
The talk, organised by Lancaster and District Green Party, will start at 8.00pm.

CONTACT YOUR COUNCILLOR!
3/12/02: Campaigners are urging residents to ask their Councillors to vote for the Canal Corridor North Motion which is to be debated at Council on the 11 December. If Councillors vote for this motion, proposed by Green councillors (see earlier story), it will send a very clear signal to developers Chelverton and Carillion that their current development plans are not welcome.
The motion, if passed, will also pave the way for the Musicians' Co-op to negotiate a long-term lease which will enable them to find funding to develop their ambitious plans for a cultural centre. The kind of expansion which the Co-op is working on supports the council's own plans for the area to be turned into a cultural quarter.
Residents say that the council's own plans for a cultural quarter by the canal are very positive, and are asking councillors to stick to them in the face of pressure from Chelverton and Carillion.
"Council Leader Tricia Heath has already publicly rejected the idea of Big Boxes along the canal," says resident Sally Banks. "This motion gives all our councillors the same opportunity to show their support to the council's own development brief and to strengthen the the Music Co-op's position. That's why we're asking people concerned about Chelverton's proposals for a road and big box retail units to contact their councillor and make sure they are aware of the motion."

• Write to your councillor: click here for a full list (non-javascript link)

THE EMPEROR AND THE NIGHTINGALE
1/12/02 The Dukes finally comes up trumps with an exotic and colourful children's fable for the Christmas season. Hans Andersen's 'The Emperor and the Nightingale' adapted for theatre by Neil Duffield with beautifully designed scenery and costumes, and featuring the lovely voice of Maeve Larkin who plays the nightingale, thrilled both the 7th years from Ripley and the seniors from Arnside... Read a review by satori

LEE MACK LIVE AT THE PLATFORM COMEDY CLUB
1/12/02 We've seen him in the 'The Sketch Show' but that didn't prepare us for how fast and funny he was going to be. We laughed ourselves senseless. The Platform's Comedy Club is getting a reputation for high-quality comedy that is gathering throughout the region - except in Morecambe it seems! Read a review by satori