Great news for the Lancashire Wildlife Trust that its application has been approved by Preston council ( I didn’t know it was in Preston) to build a Visitor and Education centre on the reserve by the River Ribble. I hadn’t previously thought there was any doubt but the Lancashire Evening Post is reporting objections from local residents about traffic. The Trust is forecasting 250,000 visitors a year. Sounds a lot, could it be optimistic?
The locals had 24hr gravel diggers for several years and I read 30 lorries a day plus the M6 and A59 traffic. They didn’t like the thought of these slow moving cars carrying people with an interest in nature. Looking at the map if the same access road is being used there are about 20 houses nearby and nice houses they are as well although the motorway takes some shine off it.
The North West Development Agency (NWDA) introduces a couple of new terms for me; Newlands – New Economic Environments via Woodlands which has £59m to spend. DUNS – Derelict Underused and Neglected Lands Survey.
As far as DUNS is concerned this was beautiful land before the gravel diggers arrived so I don’t know how this works. Someone moves a load of gravel making some money and leaves a DUNS for the taxpayer to sort out?
The NWDA also states that this land is close to an area in the top 10% of multiple deprivation in the UK. Maybe a bus service will be needed?
The plans which are costing around £8m include a stylish floating building, as it’s on the flood plain and in a water filled gravel pit, and a roofline below the tree height. The total size of the reserve is 106 hectares which is over 100 football pitches and over half of it is existing woodland. It certainly looks and sounds good and I look forward to visiting. Hope there’ll be hides and decent coffee and not too much motorway noise.