Previous stories: 1 - 15 November 2006
Next stories: 1 - 31 December 2006

MONKEYRACK
30/11/06: Six local authors have just published their first collection of short stories and poetry. The title of the collection, 'Monkeyrack', is the local name for Belle Vue Terrace - the venue for the group’s creative sessions.

In this new collection you will meet a killer with a divided mind and a man who embarks on an antisocial suicide; you will see a daughter conceived in hindsight and a naive young man set foot in the mother country for the first time. There is beetroot, heat, green suns and a child who lives in a winter skin that holds a secret.

The Monkeyrack Writers are: Ron Baker, Simon Baker, Mollie Baxter, Edward Calais, Iain Colley and Sarah Fiske and the group will be reading from their work at a launch event upstairs at the Gregson Centre on Wednesday 13 December at 8.30pm.
Published by Road Works (£6.99)
info: road_works@btinternet.com,
Monkeyrack: A Collection of New Writing

LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL: UNITARY STATUS BID
30/11/06: Lancaster City Council believes its bid for unitary status for this area will be complemented by Lancashire County Council's proposals for the remaining councils countywide to work together to improve their services.

Unitary government means a single local authority responsible for providing ALL local government services. Currently residents here are governed by two councils, Lancaster City and Lancashire County Council. There are also Town and Parish Councils. Unitary status would bring all the different services currently offered by all these organisations under ‘one roof’, giving local control of important services.

Following publication of the Local Government White Paper last month, councils have been invited to either make proposals for unitary local government or work together to improve the current system of two-tier working (counties and district councils).

Commenting, Lancaster City Council's Leader, Coun Ian Barker, said: "All five political groups on the city council strongly believe the potential of this area can best be met by the creation of a unitary council, to add to the existing unitaries within Lancashire - Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. We have seen the progress they have made in tailoring existing upper tier services, such as education and social services, to local needs and would welcome the opportunity to do the same here.

He added: "However, we are not only ambitious for ourselves but also for our neighbours. We are working closely with Preston and South Ribble councils, who are jointly bidding for unitary status, and strongly believe the creation of these two further unitaries will not only greatly benefit our own areas but also the surrounding areas and the remaining part of Lancashire. Lancashire County Council covers a vast geographical area and is one of the biggest authorities in the country, covering 1.156 million people. With the best will in the world it cannot possibly have a sustained focus on the needs of this district when it has to consider the different competing needs of so many diverse communities. However, with nine districts instead of 12, the population and number of areas the county has to serve would reduce and whilst remaining the largest county in the north of England, it would become a more manageable and therefore stronger provider of services."

Lancaster City Council's bid for Unitary Status must be submitted by 25 January 2006. For further information see www.lancaster.gov.uk/unitary.

LANCASTER XMAS SHOPPING
29/11/06: Xmas is of course, a time for families and most noticeably a time for families to go shopping. Lancaster retailers are piling it high and will be taking on all comers and providing Sunday shopping and late night shopping until 9pm on Thursdays through til Xmas - once again with free parking in all Lancaster City Council carparks from 6pm.

This weekend will see the welcome return of Lancaster's Christmas Continental Market, when the City's streets overflow with all manner of excellent products from all over the continent (and beyond), complemented by the best of Lancaster's own Charter Market and our local Farmer's market.
LINKS:
www.stnicholasarcades.co.uk
www.marketgatelancaster.co.uk
www.lancastermarkets.co.uk

COMMUNITY FUNDING / AWARDS AVAILABLE
28/11/06: The Galbraith Trust makes grants to organisations (not individuals) for any charitable purpose. The receiving organisations do not need to be registered charities but the activity for which they seek a grant must be charitable. The people benefiting from the charitable activity must live in the Lancaster District (as defined by the boundaries of Lancaster City Council). Application forms are available from Lancaster District CVS. Next closing date for applications: Friday 5 January 2007.
The Community Champions Fund is intended to support volunteers to carry out projects that will be of benefit to the community. It is aimed at helping volunteers develop their own skills and capabilities whilst carrying out worthwhile community projects. For further details and application forms contact West Lancashire CVS, tel: 01695 733737, e-mail: enquiries@wlcvs.org. Closing date for next round of applications: Monday 22 January 2007.
The Harvest Trust provides free seaside holidays for disadvantaged children aged 8-11 years at their holiday centre in Wales. The Trust will provide accommodation for one week, transport and admissions for 12 children. You need to provide food and 3 adult workers. For further information tel: 01559 371190, e-mail: office@harvesttrust.com, website: www.harvesttrust.com. Closing date for 2007 applications: Wednesday, 31 January 2007.

CHRISTMAS SHELTER
28/11/06: No room at the inn? Lancaster & District Homeless Action will, once again, be running a shelter for homeless people over the Christmas period. They are requesting support to finance the shelter which will provide a warm place to stay, hot meals and company during the festive season. Anyone wishing to make a donation should contact Ceri Owens, tel: 842008, e-mail: admin@ldhas.org.uk

COCKLE PICKER DEATHS: PROSECUTION WINS AWARD
The operation to bring to account those responsible for the deaths of up to 23 Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay has won Britain's top criminal justice award.

The multi-agency operation 'Lund' collected the Justice Shield from Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland and TV presenter Fiona Bruce at a ceremony in London. It is the highest honour presented at the national Justice Awards.

It was an enormously complex prosecution involving more than 1.5million pages of evidence. The trail eventually led to a Chinese gangmaster being found guilty of 21 counts of manslaughter and jailed for 14 years in March 2006. It is thought that 23 illegal immigrants died in dangerous tides while scouring Morecambe Bay for cockles in February 2004, although two bodies have never been recovered.

Detective Superintendent Mick Gradwell led Operation Lund. He said:
"I don't think anyone who was involved in the operation will ever forget it. It was such a terrible tragedy, such a needless waste of life. A lot of people from a lot of agencies had to work very, very hard to see the prosecution through. Ensuring that justice was done was very important to those involved in the operation. We are all very proud to have won the award and to have our efforts recognised, but at this time your mind naturally turns to those who lost their lives."

The cockle pickers trial was one of the most complex ever staged in Lancashire. Survivors who disappeared after the tragedy had to be tracked down, statements proved difficult to obtain because of language barriers and witnesses being fearful of gang reprisals and vast quantities of evidence had to be presented to the court.
New technology was introduced during the trial to provide the jury with location footage and video and audio evidence - with translations where appropriate.
Lancashire Police received an award from the Home Office in June for its work to introduce safer working practices for cockle pickers in the wake of the tragedy.

Operation Lund involved staff from a huge range of agencies - the Crown Prosecution Service, Lancashire Constabulary, the courts and witness services, the Heath and Safety Executive, the coastguard, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, the RNLI, the Immigration Service, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the former National Crime Squad, Defra, the former Inland Revenue, the Sea Fisheries Committee, Interpol, the Chinese Embassy and several Chinese associations.

CALL FOR RADIO VOLUNTEERS
28/11/06: Diversity FM, Lancaster & Morecambe’s new community radio station is inviting people to a series of meetings to discuss how they can become volunteers and work on the station.

At the first, being held on Wednesday 6 December at St Thomas’ Centre behind St Thomas Church on Marton Street, Lancaster (opposite the new police station entrance), there will be two drop in sessions, 2pm – 4pm and 7pm – 9pm. The building is wheelchair accessible.

Diversity FM would like to invite people of all ages and any cultural background from across the community. Volunteer Co-ordinator, Duncan Moore said, “One of our aims with Diversity FM is to help people who are interested to get involved in the running of the station. This is a community project and its success depends on local people being willing to take on responsibilities. That might include being a DJ, presenting shows, pre-recording interviews, editing material, researching, studio management, technical work, journalism, writing for radio and many more”.

Diversity FM realise that many people might be willing to get involved but feel they don’t have the skills needed. The station staff will help people acquire those skills through practical training modules, on-the-job training and by using the wide experience of other volunteers. Many of these skills are transferable and can be used in other situations. The station encourages anyone who is interested to come along to one of the sessions and find out more. Who knows, you could be the next Sara Cox or John Humphries!

If you are interested in volunteering to work on Diversity FM but can’t make one of the sessions, you can contact Angela or Duncan at diversityfm@gmail.com or tel: 01524 383394 or write to Diversity FM, c/o YMCA, Fleet Square, Lancaster LA1 1HA. Further sessions will be announced in the coming weeks.

JUSTICE AWARD FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTRE
28/11/06: Sal's Place, the Lancaster project that has helped hundreds of victims break free from the horrors of domestic violence has collected a top national award.
Staff from Sal's Place, the one-stop centre for men and women who have suffered at the hands of their partners, collected a Justice Award from Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland and TV presenter Fiona Bruce at an award ceremony in London.
The centre was opened in May 2005 by Coronation Street star Sally Lindsey - barmaid Shelley - and has helped more than 250 people in its first 12 months. Sal is an acronym - it stands for Safe At Last.
Inspector Steve Anderton from Lancashire Police manages Sal's Place. He said:
"Sal's Place has been a big success because it brings together lots of people from lots of different agencies to provide support to the victims of domestic violence in a way that was not previously possible. It is an amazing feeling to have collected such an important award. It is testament to all the hard work that the staff of the centre have put in and the contribution they are making to improving the lives of hundreds of people."
Lancaster has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in its county. On average Lancaster Police are notified of an incident every two hours. In 2003/04 the reporting rate in Lancashire was 10.4 per 1000 people - in Lancaster it was 16.4 per 1000.
Sal's Place brings together staff from Lancashire police, Lancaster City Council, Victim Support and Women's Aid. It gives free and confidential advice and support to victims of domestic violence and their children.
The multi-agency approach is not only helping people escape from dangerous or abusive relationships but also to drive up the number the number of successful prosecutions and reduce the number of repeat attacks on victims.
Bob Marshall, Deputy Chair of the Lancashire Criminal Justice Board, said:
"The award for Sal's Place recognises some enormous achievements in a very difficult and challenging area of work in a very short space of time.
"We know that many incidents of domestic violence go unreported and that whole families suffer in silence. Projects such as Sal's Place ensure that more people get the advice and support they need to escape from abusive relationships. I am sure that this award will help build the public confidence in our efforts to tackle domestic violence and will reassure victims that there are people they can
turn to for help. The staff of Sal's Place have a lot to be proud of."
Sal's Place is based on Floor B, St Leonard's House, St Leonardgate, Lancaster, LA1 1NN. Tel: 01524 61747.
WEBLINKS:
Sal's Place
Lancaster & District Women's Aid
Criminal Justice Board

SKERTON WARD BY-ELECTION
28/11/06: Skerton residents go to the polls on 14 December to elect a new City Councillor, following the death of the previous incumbent, Cllr Jean Jones (Labour). The candidates are as follows: John Airey (Conservative), Norman Gardner (Independent), Christopher Hill (British National Party) and Karen Leytham (Labour).

CLLR BARKER COUNTERS SPIN CLAIM
22/11/06: City Council leader Ian Barker has contacted virtual-lancaster to counter a comment about 'spin' made in last week's newsletter regarding claims made by councillors and council staff that businesses were put off investing in Morecambe.

In addition to publishing our original online news story about the County Council Development Committee meeting which approved plans for the proposed M6-Heysham link, during which the city council presented claims that the lack of a link to the M6 was affecting inward investment in the town, VL suggested in its newsletter that a lack of detail about exactly which companies did not wish to invest because of the absence of a link road pointed to a lack of hard evidence - and suggested councillors had 'spun' the claims to support their pro-road arguments.

As we reported, following receipt of a press release repeating the vague claim, VL asked the Council press office for more details about the businesses involved, if any. VL was told that current developers including Urban Splash, who have shown confidence in the area by making significant investments, have said the lack of an M6 link is a drawback to attracting private sector investment.
This response hardly seemed adequate and raised other questions: if councillors and staff had not provided detailed evidence of companies put off from investing in Morecambe, this implied the County Council might have given the go ahead to the road plan in part on the basis of very general vague economic claims. To base a decision for a £100 million-plus project in part on seemed a cause for concern.

Cllr Barker rejects VL's claims of spin. "I made a four minute presentation to the Development Contol Committee on which I wasn't cross examined, just as [Morecambe MP] Geraldine Smith wasn't cross examined or the chap from Halton who claimed there would be widespread flooding," he comments as part of a detailed flurry of e-mail correspondence over the past few days, but accepts the use of the word "evidence" in the press release was perhaps too strong.

Now, the council leader has kindly provided more support for the Council's side in the M6 Link debate. In 2001, real estate consultants DTZ Pieda conducted some research amongst commercial and residential developers about their perceptions of Morecambe. This was part of the underpinning of the Morecambe Action Plan 2002 which led to the West End Masterplan and the Central Promenade development.

Their council-funded research included findings that "A key opportunity for the future success of the town is considered to be the construction of the motorway link road. This will significantly improve the accessibility of the resort which will not only encourage tourism but also open up opportunities for Morecambe to be a popular residential location and enhancing its sustainability. This is likely to make a significant difference to the commercial view of the resort."

"Obviously this is DTZ Pieda summarising the views of the developers they contacted rather than a direct quote of any single one," Ian told virtual-lancaster. "The commercial view of Morecambe seemed worse than the residential developer view.

"A similar view is expressed in the baseline economic study carried out for the Vision Board by Regeneris," he comments, "one of the North West's leading consultants on regeneration and economic development (and used by Government Office North West) though it isn't directly attributed to developers."

Cllr Barker also told VL that while he felt the Council was not in a position to specifically name companies with regard to reservations about investment in Morecambe he does reveal that the council approached several regional and national house builders in their efforts to secure partners in development for the town's bus station site during its development, which were unsuccessful. "They wouldn't want to be on the record but they did provide us with information," he says.

The Council has had to fight hard to secure some recent investments in Morecambe which the council leader puts down in part to the lack of good road communication. Barker reveals that with regard to the recently-announced upgrades to the Apollo Cinema, the Council relaxed a "clawback" clause to secure the deal.

We are very pleased to have more details on this aspect of the council's pro-road arguments since it provides useful information in the debate over the M6 Link plans. We are prepared to accept that, based on this additional information, claims of 'spin' were perhaps disingenuous, but based on the response we received we felt appropriate at the time.
• Read the original story here
Read the County Council's response to questions about Park and Ride here

COUNCILLORS WANT MORE TRAFFIC MEASURES
21/11/06: After two accidents involving school children in the past few days, Labour councillors on Lancaster City Council are to ask the County Council to implement more money on 20 mph zones in the district.
At today’s meeting of the Lancaster District Lancashire Local, Councillor Ian Barker proposde that the County spends the surplus revenue from on street parking on more 20 mph zones. Councillors Jim Blakely and Rob Smith are to propose a resolution at the next City Council meeting asking for more zones, particularly on busy roads near schools.
"We fully support the County’s position that 20 mph zones need to be self policing," said Coun Barker. "There needs to be enough traffic calming so that the majority of motorists will naturally stick to the limit. Prior to the ending of the Highways Partnership earlier this year the City contributed money to enhance the County’s own programme. Now the County has taken back control of the programme, we need to identify another source of finance.
"We want them to use the surplus money they make from parking meters in the district to improve road safety, with more 20 mph zones in heavily trafficked residential areas. Top of the list should be Newton and Freehold, which had just reached the top of the City’s list when the partnership ended. However, I fully agree with Jim and Rob that we need to develop a comprehensive programme over a number of years and we will all be pressing for that."
Two Lancaster headteachers have called for traffic calming measures near their schools after two children were knocked down within 24 hours.
The Lancaster Guardian reported on Friday that an 11-year-old pupil from Lancaster Royal Grammar School was hit by a car at the top of East Road last Thursday afternoon.
He was taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg, but was back in school on Tuesday having suffered cuts and bruises.
Just 24 hours later, a five-year-old girl from Christ Church Primary School suffered bruising and shock after being struck by a car in Moorgate.
LRGS head Andrew Jarman has now called for pedestrian crossings in East Road and Wyresdale Road, as well as a 20mph limit near the school.
A speed camera in Quernmore Road and red 'rumble strips' aimed at slowing motorists were not enough, he said.

SEND YOUR BABY TO UNIVERSITY
16/11/06: The Baby Research Unit at Lancaster University is asking for your help: "We conduct research on a wide range of aspects in human development with both babies and young children. We thank all those who have helped us by volunteering to participate in our research. Our studies are conducted by experts in the field, so our volunteers contribute to the latest research. The studies include fun activities for both infants and children and provide an interesting opportunity for parents to find out about the development of their children.

We are currently looking for parents who would like to volunteer their children aged between 16 and 24 months to take part in our new project, “The Beginnings of Autobiographical Memory”. Autobiographical memory is a recollection of personal events and form “personal life history”. Our research has shown that the awareness that it happened to “me”, is vital for us to have this capacity. We would like to have two fortnightly sessions (or more if you enjoy it) with you and your child. The sessions will involve activities to find out development in: memory and self-concept (via playing with mirror). We would also ask you to complete questionnaires that will provide helpful information about your child’s everyday activities. Your child will be given a certificate for the important contribution made for the progression of our knowledge in human development (!) at the end of study. We will pay for your transport to the University. If interested, please contact Dr. Maki Rooksby (e-mail: m.rooksby@lancaster.ac.uk or telephone: 01524 593127) to find out more."

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