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Next Stories: 1 - 15 September 2006
Previous stories: 1 - 15 August 2006

RICH PEOPLE MUST COME FIRST ON TRANSPORT
31/8/06, updated 21/9/06: A Lancaster University lecturer has apparently declared rich people should come first on matters of transport. Law lecturer Richard Austen-Baker, who works at Lancaster University's law school, took magazine Private Eye to task this week for "being taken in by the public transport lobby", arguing in favour of abolishing bus lanes - a move Birmingham and Ealing councils are in the process of making.
In a letter to Private Eye this week Austen-Baker -- perhaps reflecting the University's continued lack of coherent transport strategies, resulting in huge car use that helps to choke Lancaster's one-way system in term time -- argues that "People. use public transport because they can't afford private transport. On average, bus passengers who are employed at all (many are pensioners, students and schoolchildren or the unemployed) earn far less than car users." Clearly Austen-Baker thinks these people are second class citizens compared to car drivers, arguing "their time is less valuable to the economy.
"It therefore makes no sense whatever to give them priority over people in cars."
Austen-Baker clearly has it in for public transport, claiming arguments for it are based on "misrepresentations". Perhaps he's been stuck behind a bus pumping out "horrible emissions in large doses once too often" once too often on his way to work during term time, obviously unable to notice that much of the traffic causing jams in Lancaster are his fellow lecturers and students driving to the University, despite the huge number of buses laid on by various privatised bus companies.
There's only one "horrible emission" virtual-lancaster can definitely spot this week -- and it isn't from a bus.
21/9/06 Update: Mr Austen-Baker has refuted the interpretation placed on his letter to Private Eye by several netizens and readers of PE, who responded angrily to his comments in the subsequent issue of the satirical magazine. Mr Baker re-stated his postion on public transport in a further letter which appears in full on VL contributor John Freeman's web blog. You can read his letter here

LANCASTER GETS TOURIST BOOST
30/8/06: A nationwide surge in tourism has resulted from people spending more of their leisure time in the UK due to travel hassles over terrorism. The Fylde coast and the Lake District report a bumper season and national newspapers The Guardian and The Observer will be featuring the Lancaster district in travel supplements and a supporting podcast from this coming weekend.
In a special supplement arranged through the North West Regional Development Agency, with an itinerary set up by Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board and Lancaster City Council’s tourism team, journalists from the national newspaper group have written an article on Lancaster and recorded a 10 minute podcast to appear on The Guardian’s travel website.
The supplement will be published in this Saturday’s Guardian (September 2) and repeated in The Observer on Sunday September 10. The podcast can be heard by visiting www.guardian.co.uk/travel/nwda and will be online from this Saturday.
Included in the coverage are Ashton Memorial, the Butterfly House, Lancaster Castle, the Maritime Museum, the Dukes Theatre and the area’s artistic contribution, Lancaster’s history, Hodgson’s award-winning chip shop, Morecambe’s attractions including the new Spalsh Park and an interview with Cedric Robinson on walking across the bay. Several places to eat and stay are listed and there is a shortbreak competition provided by Lancaster House Hotel.
Interviews for the podcast were carried out by former Morecambe High School student Helen Pidd who now works as a feature writer and commissioning editor for The Guardian. The feature article was written by James Griffiths, a former student of Lancaster University.

SUN STREET STUNTS!
Expect a continental cafe feel in Sun Square and Sun Street this Sunday 27 August for the Sun Street Festival as ALL the Sun St food establishments wait tables in Sun Square. It'll be like abroad! But watch out for the stunt man jumping off the top of the Music Room at 2pm! EEEK! And there will be street performers all afternoon, a martial arts display, song from St Mary's Choir, plus a bit of a cook-off as the women's from St Mary's and the Moslem Women's Group give a cookery demonstration. Also there for your delectation will be stalls for local charities, a barbeque and Atkinsons will be putting on probably the best coffee stand you'll ever get to try. And it's all in aid of Children's charities and organised by the Sun Street Traders. For more details contact the Sun Café on 01524 845599.

LANCASTER DIVERSITY FESTIVAL

22/8/06: Do you love living in Lancaster District?
Or is the local area a cold and unfriendly place for you?
Come and tell your story…
Volunteers from The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI Lancashire) will be at the Diversity Festival in Lancaster’s Market Square on Saturday afternoon eager to listen to your stories about how “welcome” you feel in the area.
The District of Lancaster is home to people of well over 100 different heritages. For some people, it is a warm and friendly place. But for many others, it is not.
NCBI Lancashire has been awarded funding from the European Social Fund through Lancashire Grants for Growth to train 11 people to gather stories from long term residents and more recent arrivals to Lancaster and Morecambe District.
Over the past 7 weeks, the 11 volunteers have been learning how the identities we hold and the preconceptions we have of each other can affect the welcomes we both give and receive. Our feeling of welcome can depend on whether we are young or old, black or white, disabled or able-bodied, as well as where other people think we come from and whether we “belong”.
Diana Martin, Volunteer Co-ordinator for NCBI says:
“We're all born different. A safe and healthy community is one in which everyone – yes, EVERYONE - feels welcome and valued. Tolerance is not enough! We need to be willing to form relationships with people who are different from us.
“A welcome can be with open arms or clenched fists, with kisses or with spitting. We certainly want to hear examples of the positive welcome, the one that really makes a difference. But we also want to hear the not so positive. Both sides of the story matter: we want to hear your version, whether you have come here recently or whether your family has been here for generations.
“This is an opportunity to hear from people who are not often heard. Telling our stories, and listening to the stories of others helps us to understand each other better, and to dispel myths and stereotypes about different groups. It also helps us to understand how to make Lancaster District a more welcoming community. A community where everyone feels welcome is a happier, safer and healthier place for everybody.”
NCBI will collect the stories into an archive telling the true story of “welcome”. The collection will be used to promote trust and mutual understanding. No commercial use will be allowed and contributors will be anonymous.
So, if you’ve a story to tell, do come and visit the NCBI stall on Saturday. If you can’t make it on Saturday, please contact Diana Martin at NCBI on 01524 383899 or email diana@ncbilancs.fsnet.co.uk

MARSH COMMUNITY GETTING FESTIVE
22/8/06: This Saturday 26 August Marsh Community Centre is holding its second Community Festival. Following on from last year's event, which proved a popular success, this year's Festival will again be held at the Marsh Community Centre on Willow Lane running from 12 noon right through to 11pm.
There will be lots to enjoy - bouncy castles, ducking stools, food and much more. Later on there will be a children's entertainer followed by a Family Disco with a raffle and then to finish off a Fireworks Display!
All funds raised will go towards young people and family projects. For further information conact the Marsh Community Centre on 01524 843300 / 61629.

FIRST LANCASTER SOUL FESTIVAL
22/8/06: The festival kicks off on Saturday 26 August with a Launch Night at the Gregson Centre, Lancaster from 8pm - 12am. £3 will get you a night of Motown, Philly, funk and Northern Soul classics with DJs Steve Middlesborough, Tony Crookes, Sean O'Conner and the Seaside Soul Club.
Then on Sunday 27 August The Lancaster Soul Festival will be happening in Williamson park, Lancaster with the Soul Roadshow by the pond from 12-4pm, playing all the Motown, Philly, funk and Northern Soul classics with DJs Steve Middlesborough, Tony Crookes, Sean O'Conner and the Seaside Soul Club. At 4pm the action moves to the stage on the Memorial steps for live performances from fabulous bands including Get Carter and Stuff Like That to get you dancing! Cafe will be open throughout. Hurray! Info tel: 01524 33318.

SOLFEST BUZZ
21/8/06: Not content with the local attractions, many Lancastrians are heading off to SolFest, the annual world and folk music festival north of Maryport on the Solway Firth this bank holiday weekend.
The festival sold out fairly rapidly this year, with many of the 5000 tickets going to folk from hereabouts so the organisers tell us, and have asked us to pass it on locally that, sadly, no more tickets will be made available on the gate.
Solfest originally sprang out of an idea from Abbeytown man Simon Kay and a group of friends, which they had while attending the Cambridge Folk Festival in summer 2003. “We felt that between us we had the skills and the enthusiasm to put on something really special in Cumbria. We go to many festivals every year ourselves right across the British Isles and knew that the people of Cumbria would love the opportunity to experience the festival atmosphere without having to travel hundreds of miles.”
One of the key successes of Solfest has been the professionalism with which it has been run. Right from the start, a committee was formed and a constitution drawn up which ensured that members of the committee could never make any financial profit from Solfest. “This has been a blessing” said Simon. “Because none of us are in it for the money, it means we can invest heavily in all the quirky little extras which make festivals so special, without ever feeling that we are loosing out ourselves. At our first ever meeting in 2003 we decided that we would always run everything in as professional a manner as possible, without ever cutting corners. By doing this, we were able to lay sound foundations for what the festival may go on to become. After the first year we decided to become a ‘not for profit’ limited company in order to provide ourselves with a bit of security, but we have always stuck rigidly to our original principles”
Funded by a combination of ethical sponsorship, grant funding and ticket sales, Solfest has consistently managed to defy the odds by prospering in a climate, which sees most new businesses fail within the first two years. This is particularly true in the field of the Arts, where it is virtually unheard of for Arts events to be self-funding (something which Solfest expects to achieve within the next two years).
This year, the Solfest box office has had to post ticket to people in the USA, Canada, Japan, and all over Europe and the UK. So, with so many festivals of different types to choose from, what is it that makes Solfest so special? According to Simon, it is a combination of taking good ideas from other events and also finding completely new solutions to where needed. “A lot of events base their attendance numbers on the number of people who pass through in a weekend. In many cases the same person could be counted several times. At Solfest, we only sell full weekend tickets. This means that for one weekend in August, we will be building a canvas town with a population the size of Aspatria and Silloth combined!
Because people stay on site, they invest heavily in the festival and become part of it. I’ve even known local people who only live a few hundred yards away from the site actually going home and getting their camping gear just so that they could be part of the experience!” Another example of the levels of community involvement is this year’s fancy dress party, which will see over 5000 people dressed as Pirates and Faeries on Saturday night. “Having fancy dress at festivals is a great idea. It requires very little organisation and really lifts the energy of the event. I’m surprised more events don’t try it!”
Solfest really is an event that bases itself on two simple beliefs; firstly that it is People who make festivals, all the other stuff just helps them along. Secondly, attention to detail is everything. This is something which is apparent all over the Solfest site with quirky walkabout entertainers, musicians, artists, shops & stalls, cafes where you can sit down and have a cup of tea (or perhaps something a little stronger). Hundreds of children’s activities and workshops, sculptures, flags, kites, a labyrinth and much much more. And if you ever manage to find the time, there’s always three Main stages and a Dance tent as well as countless smaller stages and venues dotted around the site where you can see a host of acts ranging from the well known crown pleasers right through to up and coming bands discovered from the thousands of cds sent to the organisers and the hundreds of gigs which they attend each year on the look out for new acts.
Solway Buzz

IAN BARKER: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH COUNCIL LEADER
21/8/06: Lancaster City Council is one of the area's largest employers and its activities -- from recycling to planning, tourism to economic development -- are rarely out of the news.
As controversy rages over the Canal Corridor development, the fate of Lancaster and Morecambe town halls and many other matters, we asked Council leader Ian Barker if he would answer many of the questions being raised by our readers, which he kindly agreed to do. Read the Interview...

DEAD BIRDS ON LUNE: DEFRA INVESTIGATING
21/8/06: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is investigating the large number of dead birds seen on the River Lune over the past few days.
While most appear to be lesser black backed gulls - some seen as far down the Lune as Stodday, but many near the Millennium Bridge - other dead birds have also been seen, including ducks.
Gulls are particularly susceptible to botulism at this time of year, but one Virtual-Lancaster reader tells us there are some concerns the birds may have been deliberately poisioned.

WHOSE CITY IS IT NOW?
19/8/06: Campaigners against the City Council Cabinet's controversial decision to sign a development agreement with Centros Miller were disappointed last Wednesday when the Overview and Scrutiny Committee decided to allow the decision to stand. Local residents who came to the meeting hoping to make their case accused Cabinet members of shamelessly 'filibustering' - i.e. dragging out the proceedings so that there would be insufficient time for others to present their cases.
"We might as well be invisible", complained one. "The last people whose interests are being considered in this deal are the residents of Lancaster and Morecambe.
" Most of the provisions on which this deal stands have been made exempt from public scrutiny, supposedly on grounds of 'commercial sensitivity'. When we held a public meeting representatives from Labour and Lib Dem parties on the Council couldn't be bothered to turn up because it's not what they want to hear.
"The scheme has failed a standard traffic assessment catastrophically - it would increase congestion in Lancaster City centre by 30% because of rerouting and extra journeys. This cannot be significally improved by the current scheme. Air quality in the city is so poor it has been classed as constituting a health hazard for the people working there. It is imperative that any development should incorporate some green space, to help deal with this serious problem. Trying to get the City Council to grasp this, when they are busy being hypnotised by the slick regeneration-jargon of Centros and Halogen is just hopeless.
" A completely false representation of the community's views has been knocked up by Centros' PR company, Halogen, who carried out the supposed 'consultation'. When we said we wanted to see more local shops, they put that we wanted more shops. And the only types of shops they deal in are national chains. In fact they are saying we want the exact opposite of what we did say.
"How can Halogen possibly carry out an impartial consultation when they are actually employed by the company in question? Centros has placed the exact same development in every town it has operated in. Halogen's job is to make it look as if that is what the people have asked for.
"It's offensive that our own council feels so contemptuous of the people in this city that they condone this whole rotten strategy. And indeed Cabinet made the decision to sign the development agreement before the results of the consultation were even in. It was obvious what the results would be. They would be whatever Centros paid for them to be."
"Centros and Halogen don't concern themselves with the appalling long-term problems this development will saddle us with. We have a golden opportunity to create a development that will address many of the problems we already face as a modern city - traffic congestion, lack of affordable retail space, lack of affordable housing, lack of modern entrepreneurial office space. Instead we are having this clunky development dinosaur that will add to all these problems foisted on us, just so a few of the good old boys on the council can feel like they're inside with the big players. "
Green Party Councillors have condemned the decision as "a staggering display of contempt for public opinion". Cllr Heath said: "The City Council owns 40% of the land on the Canal Corridor, so it should be taking a much more careful interest in what happens to that land and whether it is in the best interests of the whole community. Instead councillors are leaving it up to a private company to decide what goes on the site.
"The planning committee will eventually have a say too, but they will only be able to say yes or no to the single proposal put forward by the developer - they won't be able to negotiate a better mix of uses for the site, which the cabinet could have done at this early stage.
"Providing more shops may be very profitable for multinational companies like Centros Miller and the chainstores that they hope to attract, but along with local residents I remain to be convinced that it will be good for Lancaster and Morecambe. Lancaster is in danger of becoming even more of a traffic-clogged clone town than it already is.
"I am staggered that councillors refused to even look at the results of the public consultations, let alone take heed of them - this is bound to undermine public confidence in the local democracy".
Later in the week Centros PR company Halogen issued a statement on behalf of Centros Miller’s Associate Director, David Lewis. "Naturally we are delighted the Council has reached this positive conclusion.
"It is a truly unique site and the combination of uses with the theatres, canalside and a new Debenhams department store could be the most exciting thing to happen to Lancaster in years.”
Campaigners are currently considering making an appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Read more about the Canal Corridor development.
Other Links:
Centros Miller website
Lancaster City Council
It's Our City website

LOCALS PLAN REC SITE RENOVATION
17/8/06: An inspiring group of local residents are taking things into their own hands to renovate a derelict recreation site.
Saddened by the dilapidation of the tennis courts and the state of the small patch of adjoining woodland, frequented by vagrants and fly-tippers, the residents who live near Highfield at the junction of Quernmore and Derwent Roads, have formed a group to try and renovate and revitalise the area.
The group envisages a multi-sports use of one double set of courts, whilst the other would be for tennis alone - both getting a newly installed all-weather surface.
"The small woodland needs its perimeter secured, together with a tree and shrub management scheme to enhance bio diversity, " they say.
"These two major improvements would integrate with and enhance the currently well maintained and well used bowling greens.
"Renovating and revitalising the Highfield site would provide a greatly appreciated facility for the surrounding community - notably The Freehold, Standen Park, Moorlands and The Ridge."
As a first step in getting together with and consulting more local people, the group is calling a meeting at The Gregson on Tuesday 5 September at 7.30pm to outline initial
suggestions and seek the views of any interested people or parties.

STUDENTS CLEARING DAY AT ST MARTINS
17/08/06: Post A-Level students who are hoping to locate suitable FE places through clearing are invited to St Martin's College clearing open day this Saturday 19 August to take a look at what it has to offer.
This is a perfect opportunity for students waiting to start university this September to come and take a look at St Martin's. They will be able to meet the tutors, tour the campus and faculties, talk to staff from admissions, student development and advisory service and hospitality and campus services.  St Martin's staff guarantee they can offer a truly rewarding university experience and if they choose, students going through clearing will still be able to live on campus if they study at St Martin's in Lancaster or Ambleside.  Whatever your accommodation requirements, St Martin's has something to suit your needs. From self catering accommodation to one of their generous meal plan deals
Ian Roberts, Deputy Head of Marketing, Recruitment and External Relations says:
"At our open day we offer lots of advice and information for any student entering clearing to make the whole process as stress-free as possible. You could even sign up on the spot for courses with vacancies.  We understand that choosing the course and university that's right for you is a huge and often difficult decision, with lots of things to consider. That's where our open days come in, as they will provide you with the perfect opportunity to get to know us better and gain a real insight into student life at St Martin's."
Our graduates don't just get jobs, they get great careers and you may qualify for a cash Smart grant of up to £1,200.
You can choose to study at one of our vibrant city sites in Lancaster or Carlisle or our stunning rural campus at Ambleside in the heart of the Lake District.  Either way you'll soon be at home in a friendly place where everyone knows your name.
You can study full or part-time on a whole range of foundation degree, diploma, degree and PGCE courses from Adventure Recreation Management to Youth and Community Development Studies.
At St Martin's you get a quality university education on your doorstep - just ask your teacher, they probably trained with us!"
St Martin's produces more teachers than anywhere else in the country and is one of the main providers of health care professionals in the NW.
The Sunday Times University Guide 2004 reported that St Martin's graduates are more likely to get a graduate level job on completing their course than any other Higher Education Institute in the country.
St Martin's College and Cumbria Institute of the Arts plan to amalgamate to form a University for Cumbria in August 2007.
Open days will take place on all three campuses (Lancaster, Ambleside and Carlisle) from 11am - 4pm.  Refreshments will be available throughout the day.

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Next Stories: 1 - 15 September 2006
Previous stories: 1 - 15 August 2006