Made In Preston – the blog

An election is coming so what will some of the parties be offering to the region.  Starting with the Green Party. They deserve a couple of seats in Parliament, I think. 

You expect the Green Party to support green policies. Yes, wind power, insulation and waste management are high on the agenda.  Along with quite high social provision and low defence provision. 

Who could argue with wind, insulation and waste measures? Insulation seems to be one of the biggest factors in reducing energy bills. It isn’t very glamorous though and isn’t going to gain technological credibility so doesn’t get a lot of press. 

All those windmills.  Are they becoming a bit of a blight already?  They’re often not turning, so not very dependable. For the region with its seas, hills and facing the prevailing wind we can expect a lot more who-ever is in power but even more with the Greens. We can also expect Heysham Power Stations to close and the fuel site at Salwick.

Waste? All that plastic packaging and milk cartons. Surely it should be discouraged.  Some countries already re-cycle twice as much as the UK without too much difficulty.

Another Green policy is an increase in public transport.  Not too long ago their promise of building 30,000 new buses would sound like manna from heaven for this region, Leyland,  but now there is hardly any bus building except some body work at East Lancs Coachbuilders, Optare.  

There wasn’t much written about reducing car use but cutting rail fares by  30% and expanding public transport implies a reduction in car use. I’m not convinced about a 30% cut in rail fares. A cut from £10 to £7 is only marginally advantageous and if I was spending that every day, a cut from £50 to £35 wouldn’t be life changing. I’m against encouraging distance commuting so in some ways an increase in fares might help that.  I have free bus use now and have never used it, so cars will need to be penalised. 

The 30,000 buses are an interesting concept. British jobs for British workers?  Including steel from Middlesbrough for windmills and buses, although probably it’s the wrong steel and too little, too late and steel making isn’t green. 

Taxes on aviation, like VAT on aviation fuel, and restrictions on new runways coupled with reductions in rail fares, might create an advantage to resorts like Blackpool.  Especially if the pound sank because of the financial controls the Greens promise. 

On defence the Greens are looking at a defensive posture and only venturing overseas under the UN. As UN don’t usually use more than Land Rovers and light armour you could say no overseas capability will be needed.  Is that goodbye to Ascension, Falklands and perhaps Gibraltar.  Aircraft Carriers and their aircraft and probably a lot of the navy wouldn’t be needed. Trident is definitely out.  I wouldn’t hold much hope for the aircraft industry in Lancashire or ship industry at Barrow.  As an area with a large defence and nuclear industry how many defence workers does it take to insulate one loft.

The Greens are also big on social welfare including workers and human rights and a citizens wage. 

There are other policies about building solar arrays in Africa and using high voltage d.c. transmission lines to bring in the power.  As well as local generation.  It’s not long ago I was reading about the advantages of the a.c. distribution system so I must re-visit that. Surely a policy like that couldn’t be written without engineering awareness. 

The Greens also support the EU, but not as a nation, and support international co-operation, who doesn’t.

As you’d expect, some big changes would result and I was a bit surprised that they seem quite left wing when out of the major elements of the ‘green zone’.   I’d support a ‘greener’ track in many aspects and use of local producers and local workers appeals. There’s always a downside to this type of social engineering in that if basic stuff becomes more expensive you’ve less to spend on enjoyment. In conclusion they won’t get my vote but have my support as a pressure group.

 The Evening Post alerted me to the Competition Commission announcement released today that Stagecoach must sell Preston Bus to a bidder able to provide a competitive service. It seems a bit late for this as the deal was done months ago, buses have been re-branded and staff laid off or moved. 

The sale was never a good thing from the perspective of local pride and autonomy but in the bus wars Stagecoach attracted enough passengers to make Preston Bus unable to carry on. This probably wasn’t too difficult against a big organisation.

Although I don’t use the bus I have been reading comments, that might be biased, that fares are increasing and the services less frequent since the takeover.  Also that Stagecoach will move the good buses to other depots where they are seeking more customers.  Whether this is true I don’t know but in my rare experience of travelling on Stagecoach I thought the buses were of a high standard.  Also it’s a British company and is expanding overseas and into other areas like rail. Companies like this are needed to provide ‘British jobs for British workers’ and companies that contribute to the taxpayer in the long term rather than take subsidies.

I’m not clear on how the Competition Commission normally works but it seems a strange arrangement that a buy-out occurs, people and infrastructure are disrupted then months later it’s decided to put the clock back.  Who pays for putting the clock back? At the time of the purchase the Competition Commission (CC) reported that no-one else had been willing to buy Preston Bus who was able to compete with Stagecoach. So who is going to do it now noting that the CC say the buyer must be strong enough to compete?

The announcement says “The sale will include a bus depot, other assets and a network of routes, including services formerly run by Preston Bus but since transferred to Stagecoach following the acquisition.”  Does this mean all routes, just some and include non-former PB routes, and which ones?  The full report is on the CC website and perhaps that explains more.

The Evening Post alerted me to the Competition Commission (CC) report issued on 3rd September 2009 relating to Stagecoach taking over Preston Bus Limited. The CC have quite a good website and there is a lot of stuff related to this inquiry. In fact it’s a very big read with a few hundred pages on this case alone.

The output says they provisionally believe there will be a significant lessening of competition (SLC) in commercial bus services  but not in tendered bus services after submissions from a broad base of involved parties.

On the face of it that seems fairly obvious. As does the statment in the report that Preston Bus and other local operators feared competition from Stagecoach and so were restricted in opening any routes that might be thought to be threatening. Also that Stagecoach feared Preston Bus being taken over by another large operator. Although that isn’t to say the report isn’t worthwhile as it contains interesting information that would not have otherwise been public.

The report says the Stagecoach Frenchwood garage was one of the least profitable so in my opinion it isn’t hard to imagine that Stagecoach would seek ways to improve it although at the time maybe Preston Bus didn’t know Stagecoach had such a strong need.  Small bus operators are bound to be at a disadvantage against larger companies. The only protection they could have would either need to be legislative or through loyalty of customers. In this case the people of Preston seem to have voted to travel on Stagecoach buses to a level that made Preston Bus struggle. Unfortunately it wouldn’t need that many to have done that.

There is local pride, sentimentality and a sense of control in having the name of the city on the buses but when it comes to business those factors don’t pay any bills.  The provision of bus services is one where competition is fierce and the players are circling each other all the time. That no-one else was willing to buy Preston Bus for a decent price during the competition, as stated in the report, meant that Stagecoach had played their hand well.

My own opinion is that Stagecoach got a bad reputation in the early days of deregulation when they were building up their business but since then they have maintained a decent fleet and provide a good service. Any business is going to look to make the best of its resources and in general if you are not growing you are shrinking in the world of consolidating globalism. Preston Bus was quite vulnerable and Stagecoach are operating on a national and international scale. On the other hand I would have liked the buses to have kept their livery and the badge of Preston on their side. A world of bland uniformity might be our destiny as we pop out of WH Smith and onto the Stagecoach in Lancaster and for a moment thought you were in Preston. How much do you want to pay for diversity or are council tax and bus fares high enough?

Beautiful sunny day, no wind, slight chill in the air. Went to Poulton Le Fylde which is about 3 miles from the start. Quite a few people lining the road including a school party from a school nearby.

The race was due to leave Stanley Park at 10.15 so was expected here around 10.25.  Everything seemed normal with cars moving about, then a ‘peleton protection car’ came by to whip up a bit of enthusiasm with some announcements and to get the children cheering. Next came police motorcyclists relaying to each road junction stopping the traffic.  Much larger than expected a mass of cyclists taking up the full width of the wide road with police cars and support teams and ambulance following at what seemed a fairly leisurely pace. It looked great and I was so envious of the riders with their fitness and being in it, although it would be too much dedication for me.

Tour of Britain Cycle Race 2009 leaving Blackpool

Tuesday 15th Sept the cycling tour race starts at 10.15am from Stanley Park, Blackpool and heads to Cockerham(Sprint) 11am and Claughton. Then three King of the Mountain trials via Trough of Bowland, Clitheroe, Longridge, Broughton (Sprint) 1pm, Elswick then Blackpool and finishes at The Sandcastle, South Promenade Blackpool at 1.49pm.

The new promenade should be a good vantage point although I can imagine it will be busy.

Loads of good vantage points.  Think a trip to Blackpool might be on the cards. According to the map it starts in the middle of Stanley Park and out through the main gates at the cricket club side before going along Newton Drive towards the hospital roundabout, where it goes left.

On the return route it goes past the airport then along the prom to the Sandcastle.

At Broughton the sprint seems to start just east of the motorway and ends west of the A6 so the A6  junction must be closed off for a period.

We used to watch the tour going through Bamber Bridge about 30 years ago when it was called the Milk Race. A local landlords son was usually in the race.

The map of the route is available on this link.

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/_ns_pdf/stage_4_route_map.pdf

Timetable on this link.

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/_ns_race/stage4_route.asp

It’s a long time since I walked from Miller Park into the centre but I noticed that it is proposed to make a cycle and pedestrian greenway linking Fishergate Shopping Centre with Avenham and Miller Parks.  This includes replacing a  missing bridge. Interesting about a missing bridge, I wonder where it was and where it went.  I seem to recall a metal bridge many moons ago somewhere north of the park and crossing the river on the old L&Y bridge is still possible.  Sounds a good scheme and I’ll be looking out for the signs to it.

Havn’t been to the event for a couple of years and discovered late that it’s moved to the middle of Leyland now.

Sign on the motorway said use Junction 29 and then I discovered that all signs led to Park and Ride. Well my intention was to jump out of the car look around and take some photos and be home to go out for lunch.  I didn’t know where it was and after driving round the mysterious roads of Leyland and experiencing the curious high and bevel edged speed humps I decided to go home. 40 mile round trip, lack of initiative on my part, need to buck up.

Interesting article in the Times at the weekend about the architectural value of Preston bus station.  According to English Heritage it is ‘one of the most innovative pieces of transport architecture in Britain’.  Part of Prestons identity according to the group trying to save it.

My own opinion is that demolition of any one-off building might be found to be  a mistake in years to come. Preston seems to have excelled in demolishing things that might now be items to cherish like the Public Hall and Town Hall remains. There are some interesting buildings tucked away so no-one can see them. To name two; All Saints Church with a classical front in Elizabeth Street off Lancaster Road and the Playhouse Theatre.  The bottom end of Friargate has some interesting features if you look above the shops or at the alleyway arches.

Then again the bus station is a bit big to preserve. Yet some say that size is one of it’s main features.  So preserving a bit of it might seem to defeat the object even if the problem of access could be overcome by doing that.

The Times article says it is said the car park entrances are too small for modern cars. But you can argue that cars are about to get smaller, petrol at 150p anyone, green taxes as the temperature begins to obviously get higher.  Also it is said it was built for a bigger Preston and cuts off a large area. Although this might be the age of the bus.

I’ve always felt a bit of pride that Preston had such an unusual and large building, vastly superior to the terrible bus stations in nearby towns. Although I’ve always thought it has a lot of major faults.  Also I’d like the investment.  So I sympathise with both sides and on balance would like it to stay with improvements. For example it doesn’t have to be a bus station for its whole length and half of it could be merged into a pedestrian area with shops at The Guild Hall side. That end wouldn’t even need to be completely blocked in, just preserve the shape.

Read more here;

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6538907.ece

EMCON Technology are an American company who make vehicle exhaust products at factories at Warton and Squires Gate, Blackpool. The Blackpool Evening Gazette says it was announced today that 100 jobs will be moved abroad from Squires Gate and the plant closed due to over-capacity. This is the second note this month on this blog where an American company has moved work from Lancashire to the continent. The pound may have gone down but it isn’t making us cost efficient against more centralised facilities as demand has dropped.

The company said they’d looked at logistics and transport when making their decision. Maybe north-west England is at a disadvantage for European routes and whatever transport improvements are made they can only lessen this disadvantage not remove it.

It also said that they supply Toyota and Jaguar in the UK so that is a bit less UK benefit from those companies as well.

Beautiful day. Drove from the M6 along the A59 towards Samlesbury. New traffic lights outside the Swallow Hotel controlling traffic from Walton Le Dale. About time really, it always was a close your eyes and hope for the best type of junction. Then the old gates outside BAE SYSTEMS have been closed and new ones with traffic lights built further up. Large new office block inside the site, looks impressive.  Remember reading about that in the Evening Post something to do with the JSF although that seems to have gone quiet lately. Samlesbury looks a big site now.

Nice country drive towards Ribchester, recall a spell of going to the Lode Star pub many years ago but it seems to have disappeared. Noticed an attractive early 17th Century (think)  house by the River Ribble bridge before Ribchester, need to look that up.

Travelling south on the M6 yesterday there was a plague of interrupting traffic news about roadworks on the B6576 in Oswaldton from Radio Lancashire.  Yet later heading back there was no news but I met a sign saying motorway closed ahead.  Apparently the M6 had been closed for over an hour and there were 3 accidents. So where was Radio Lancashire? 

Turning onto the A59 hit a queue into Preston so did a U turn and went back to Bamber Bridge just catching the Radio Lancashire announcement as I came off the motorway. Hard luck or rubbish service?

I could have gone via Penwortham initially if I’d known. Who let me on the motorway when it was closed?

It isn’t a rare occurance that there are accidents closing the M6 near Preston. Many seem to involve lorries and vans, very rarely 2 cars. Should lorries and vans be slowed down?  Is Lancaster an M6 accident hotspot, should there be a compulsory stopping point on the motorway.   Then there is that lane swapping approaching the M55 and blocking of the inside lane by tailgating lorries so you can’t get off the motorway.

Update: Motorway closed today north of Preston after an accident at lunchtime.

Cabbies fearing loss of business to late night buses. Cabbies able to pick up passengers at bus stops. Preston bus only weeks from being bust, Stagecoach saves jobs and pensions. Mayor says bus station underpass dangerous. It’s all happening on the buses according the the Lancashire Evening Post. www.lep.co.uk

Of these the bus station underpass is the easiest to comment on.  What about making a fenced footpath across the concourse controlled by lights and gates into St Johns. You could put a water splash at the bus entrances, like a moat to stop pedestrians. Imagine the headlines – bus passengers drowned, that would stop them.

The mayor is right though and it’s not only that it’s dangerous it’s inconvenient. Typical of planners to make pedestrians walk long distances to reach something not too far away. They never learn, have you seen all those wavy footpaths with the grass worn in straight lines on either side.

Last year there was a debate about whether the Preston city crest should be on the city bus fleet. With the takeover by Stagecoach this has been fulfilled without any controversial political decision. Stagecoach have been very fast at putting their moniker on the buses.

An interesting comment that Stagecoach are using the old Ribble garage at Frenchwood and that a question mark stands over the old corporation bus depot at Deepdale.