Made In Preston – the blog

Council taxes have hardly increased in 2010 / 11.  That appears to be good news although I’m a bit sceptical about why, just before a General Election. Mustn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Preston has increased its Band D from £1566 to £1577.  Doesn’t sound a big increase but it sounds like a lot of money. Considering it’s a tax paid after tax. Add on your income tax, National Insurance and it really costs around £2000 per household at the mid-band, D. Some houses pay twice that and there are proposals from the Liberal Democrats to add an extra tax for houses over £1m.  They also propose a local tax that will get rid of council tax.

Fire and Police are about £200 for all regions of Lancashire.

Preston has its own rate and that is added to Lancashire’s which is £1108, unchanged.  Unitary councils like Blackburn have the one rate which at Band D is £1476, up £30 this year.  While Blackpool is £1516, up £40.

Other parts of Lancashire like South Ribble pay £1521, Fylde £1486. Although many of the rural villages have Parish Councils that charge up to £30 on top of that.

Overall the people of Preston pay the highest council tax in the region.

It’s nearly the end of February and snowdrops are out.  I thought that was January’s job.  We’re going to get a rush they say as the season is a month late; crocii, daffodils, tulips, blossom. Most days it’s been around 4degC when it should be 7ish. 

Now it’s raining hard making the soil difficult to work. You can’t have the season too compressed or nothing will ripen and we might be short of stuff like wheat, apples, corn.  The further north you go the shorter the seasons.  A lot depends on how the weather develops in the next few weeks.  Could be beautiful if all the blossom is out together but how stuff matures is a longer term event.

We’ve had leeks and spring cabbage in the ground over winter and they seem OK although someone said the cold comes up from underneath and spoils the hearts. So we’ll see, there’s always one merry soul waiting to say you’re doomed.

We have an outdoor apricot although it’s only given us one small fruit. The blossom is too early for round here and we’re not disciplined enough with our gardening. It needs a clockwork schedule to catch the short windows of opporunity so we don’t get a lot unless it’s inevitable like leeks.

Here’s to a good spring.

Missed my blogs birthday on February 6th 2010.

The Made In Preston Blog is 1 year old and has about 180 posts. I thought it’ll only last a few weeks but it’s still hot. So tonight I’ll pop a bottle of wine and some bottles of beer and to cap the excitement watch Question Time at 10.30.  It’s either that or Newsnight.

What happens when a blog is a year old?  Are it’s teeth growing and a bit of hair. Sometimes it’s like a vent. Richard Wilson comes into mind as you find some ridiculous thing on the news and decide it’s a topic to rage about or maybe strongly agree with.

The most enthusiastic commenters are Russian, probably 10 a day. Their mail comes in the form of long stories with certain words spread about in them.  There is one person in East Europe who keeps writing about Grand Pianos although it has a strange link.  The fixer divides mail brilliantly and with one click the rubbish is gone.  I’ve switched off comments on old ramblings for a while.  You can make contact via the Made In Preston website.

The other good thing about the blog is a bit of deeper thought on matters.  Also the stuff doesn’t drop out of thin air. Sometimes Preston is a bit limited so for that reason the blog Origin North West has been started for broader topics.

So it’s upwards and onwards for another year.

The old furniture maker in Chipping went into administation this week. A blow to a way of work, skills and manufacturing as well as the staff and village. Last year it featured on Gerry Robinson’s TV programme and he offered to put in some funds in exchange for a majority share. However it seems he didn’t take it up. It is thought the factory will now be used for another industry.

All isn’t lost in manufacturing. Not directly related, an old weaving company in Wellington, Somerset, Fox Bros. founded in 1772, has been saved by Deborah Meadon of Dragon’s Den fame. She sees a future for the top end of manufacturing quality as at this flannel maker. Would be nice if she looked at Chipping but she has some association with Somerset.

According to the Land Registry average house prices in Lancashire reached their lowest in August 09 and have since risen to £117,750 in December 2009,  equal to February 2006. This change is fairly uniform across the range of houses from detached to apartment.

The peak average house price was February 2008 at £136,688. Is it a coincidence that peaks and troughs occur in February although the minimum was £114,291 in August 2009 which being 6 months from February, is there something in the 6 month cycle?

Prices rose at around £1000 a month up to February 2008 and that was during a boom. Anyone having bought a house between February 2006 and February 2009 is likely to be owning a property worth less than they paid for it.  This happened to us in 1980 and it took a few years to get back. Fortunately we were in no hurry to move.  If we’d had to move because of work for example it would be difficult to know if commuting a long distance would be preferable to selling at a loss. All our circumstances are different depending on how much deposit you placed for example.

There is a flurry of commentary about placing a statue next to the M6 to symbolise Preston.  One is a semi-buried soldier denoting the historic battles that took place in Preston and the other is a statue symbolising a military aircraft to relate to one element of the local industry.

While supporting art forms both modern and traditional, it seems both of these are unimaginative ideas on a major scale.  It joins the race to create ‘angels of the north’ all over the country with a horse being built at Ebbsfleet which seems fairly pointless and unimaginative.  The Angel of the North was fairly controversial when it opened but now represents something unusual and dramatic, something no corporate design company could create.

It’s also seen as an opportunity to make a name for individuals and corporate designers.

Is a large public artwork the answer or would this amount spent on the Harris make it a bigger attraction. Why shouldn’t the Harris celebrate local business and build up to the Guild. Preston is known for cotton, trams, buses in Leyland, planes and now call centres.

It isn’t clear where the funding for implementing these ideas comes from. The council is offering money to the Football Museum and maybe, with that almost certainly going to Manchester, then there is some spare. Although I’d imagine that to make a good job of such a feature would cost at least £3m.  There are examples of art being bought apparently expensively such as Bolton Museum buying the imitation sculpture, Preston buying Pauline in the Yellow Dress during the war, and Trinity Hospice spending £50k on 7 commissioned artworks this year. So money for art is available, sometimes when you don’t expect it.

Then you might say who judges what should be built.  An example is Blackpool Promenade where a number of large public art pieces have been built that many people seriously dislike. Yet over time they are becoming established features and wearing well with time.  So there is a chance that the only art worth getting is that most disliked at the time. In general, and it may sound pompous, it could be that the public shouldn’t be trusted to judge on what makes good art, otherwise the shops wouldn’t be full of kitsch and more people might go into PAD. So I’d support a reputable artist deciding. Keep the corporates and local representatives well away or a paper aeroplane with no lasting appeal will result.

Two Fieldfare birds have been visiting our garden this week.  Have never heard of them before, let alone seen one.  The snow has driven them out of the country and they’ve nearly stripped our holly tree of berry’s.

We read that Redwings are doing the same and we thought that was what they were but they’ve more intense black lines round the eyes and have a very pale breast brighter than a thrush.  Bit bigger than a blackbird although the blackbirds are chasing them away.

We’ve also had a woodpecker having a go at our ’superfortress’ of mixed sunflower seeds.  The woodpecker is greedy, versatile and strong with no refinement but very attractive.  

The ’superfortress’ is the best squirrel proof seed feeder we’ve had, but seems to be out of production. It’s other great feature is that the top is attached by twisting the lid. So re-filling is done with no screwing or taking it down.  The squirrels have been scratching it but the top is too big and strong for them to turn or lever off.  It’s also broader than high so it’s easy to get seeds into it.  Since buying it I’ve never seen another and it’s a few years old now.  If you’re out there ’superfortress’ maker send me an e-mail.

A couple of days ago around 9am hundreds of geese passed nearby in several large V’s heading south west which seemed to be towards Blackpool Airport.  If they were heading for Martin Mere, south of the Ribble they’d be going more south.  How come they are moving at 9am as I’d have thought southerly headed birds would be at the end of their journey, so what time did they set off, was it dark. Not sure what is going on with geese at the moment as one day they pass north or north east and a couple of days later it’s the opposite direction.  Great sight and sound though.

Don’t remember a cold spell like this for a long time. Certainly not at this time of year. Seem to recall 1981-ish being very cold in early January.  Went out this morning at 10am and it was minus 3C and ony 1C at 1pm.

Drove to Ansdell and walked along the beach to St Annes, as it’s south facing thought it would be a bit sheltered. Beautiful sunny day, no wind except for a slight northerly drift that kept some avenues white, and the first time I’ve seen ice and snow on the beach. Nice away from the traffic on a quiet day with the sun low in the sky at midday.

Walking back the tide had come in and was lapping close to the dunes with the ice giving it a paste like consistency.  Could see Snowdon quite prominent on the horizon, the gas rigs and windmills in Liverpool Bay as well.

Climbing off the beach to Fairhaven Lake there was an excellent view over the lake towards the white church tower at Ansdell reflecting the sun with a misty sort of look. Birds walking on the lake must have been a bit confused. There was a hole in one bit where they were queueing for a bath.  Didn’t see a lot of birdlife though.

The last few weeks the Fylde skies have been full of geese formations flying in all directions , but not today. Have been curious about why some geese are flying north and others flying south. Did they turn back when they saw the weather further north.

Photograph of Lytham St Annes Lifeboat with tractor -  4th January 2010

Photograph of St Annes Pier with snow – 4th January 2010

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund (BIG) agreed a grant of £1.75m to Avenham and Miller Parks. This tops up the £2.7m granted in 2005. Also the Lancashire Museum in Stanley Street has been allocated £0.9m from the lottery and £0.8m from Lancashire County Council.

In the parks, the original design by landscape designer Edward Milner will be restored including newer additions such as the Japanese Gardens. The 2005 grant built the modern pavilion in Avenham and restored it’s buildings.  Both of these parks are in fine settings sloping steeply down to the River Ribble and overlooked by period buildings. With only the 1960’s boxlike addition blotting the landscape over Miller Park.  Will this building ever become fashionable?

This work coupled with the Georgian buildings of Winckley Square and the planned refurbishment of the square itself,  the old but attractive terrace housing,  including the listed buildings near the park, Avenham Walk promenade and the Harris Institute will make the area from the river to the main shopping street, Fishergate, a characterful and attractive area to walk. Although if I was to comment the cars and vans parked and skips that always seem to be in Winckley Street spoil its appearance. Although it’s a short street it could be a smart entrance to the square and parks.

The lottery is funding parks all over England in it’s Parks for People programme which has allocated £150m and is continuing at £20m a year. As a condition of the funding the parks have to achieve Green Flag status every year which means they are to be maintained to a high standard.  Preston must have got it’s share of lottery funding as Burnley and Wigan are on a list of places that havn’t had their fair share.

In the Lancashire Museum the funding will renovate the building and create new interactive galleries and the ability to display items previously stored as well as a cafe and shop. The museum will therefore be closed all 2010 which is a shame.  I’ve often thought more could be made of this museum as it has some interesting displays but appears a bit ignored and isolated. It has good car-parking but the entrance fee doesn’t help.  With it’s location next to the prison it would be appropriate to have a prison history display. How about that?

President Obama made a great speech with many messages in Oslo when receiving his Nobel Peace Prize. The part below stood out as a lesson to everyone if viewed in the context of your personal life.

‘I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation. 

I also know that sanctions without outreach –  condemnation without discussion – can carry forward only a crippling status quo….’

I can think of a lot situations where it sounds a bit naive but it can feel good to take the moral high ground. We’ll see.

The International Space Station with Space Shuttle Atlantis was visible from Preston yesterday morning (24th Nov) at 4.46 and it was very bright (if no clouds), I was in bed and it was probably raining.

Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (ISS)  last night just before midnight, GMT.   Their separation sets the stage for  double flybys of many towns and cities, but not Preston, today, Nov. 25th, when Atlantis and the ISS will soar through the night sky side by side–a fantastic sight.

Atlantis scheduled to land Friday morning, Nov. 27th, so the double apparitions will continue on Thursday, Nov. 26th, Thanksgiving in the United States.

No sightings of bright satellites are forecast for the next 10 days from Preston although the ISS is visible from London, low in the sky, early Friday morning.

Reported by www.SpaceWeather.com, Simple Satellite Tracker.  Tuesday 24th Nov 2009 from Preston:   Time of rising: 04:46:33 pm,   Direction to look:  W,     Time of transition:  04:48:46,      Max elevation:  37°,    Magnitude: -2.7 (very bright).

The Land Registry figures for the end of September show the North West having one of the lowest average house prices in the UK. The North West being Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire, Manchester and Merseyside.

Overall in the North West the house price average is £116k down 8% over a year but up 0.8% in September alone.

In Lancashire the picture isn’t as good with an average of £113k down 12.7% over a year and down by 0.3% in September. The peak being December 2007 at £137k.

Preston is in the Lancashire figures but Blackpool and Blackburn having unitary authorities are shown with an average of £94k and £82k respectively.  Others shown separately are Warrington £137k, Stoke £76k. Hull is the lowest English figure at £75k.  House prices in Oldham and Rochdale have fallen around 18% in a year.  The lowest London borough, Barking and Dagenham is £196k a fall of around 19%.

The number of houses sold is rising as well.

In September the average house price in Lancashire continued to fall at a rate of around three hundred pounds a month which is a lot better than year earlier. Also the number of houses sold has recovered from its trough early this year but is still well below its peak.  You can feel that as 2 houses have sold near us after being on the market for a while.

We last moved house in a late January after making an offer in late November. We thought January wasn’t a bad month to move as we settled in and had time to plan for a spring redecoration.

 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.

Today the government announced 5 new nuclear power stations on the shore of the Irish Sea. Three in Cumbria, 1 at Heysham, 1 in Anglesey. There are currently 3 that have limited life remaining.

The government has also announced a ‘quick’ planning process which some people say will over-rule peoples rights. In general the location of the sites in this area are in places where nuclear stations exist and the jobs they bring are welcomed. So planning is not likely to be a major obstacle anyway.

The Irish Sea already has banks of wind turbines and more are planned. The hills of the Lake District and Lancashire have groups of wind turbines and more of those are planned.

It is forecast that electrical demand will increase by 10% in the next 10 years although this could be reduced as easily as building a new power station.

Overall nuclear is a necessary part of the energy supply system to ensure capacity is sufficient.

17 degrees today, no wind, a watery sun. Set out across the Fylde and hundreds of geese were flying south in constantly changing V formations quite low. Opened the car window to hear them talking to each other.  Where had they flown from, Iceland? Wonderful sight and sound on a lovely day. Thankyou God.

Started watching X factor last year and was hooked. Discounting YouTube hits, here are my predictions,  it was harder than I thought – and probably completely wrong.

9th – Lloyd - nice bloke, a bit overwhelmed, voice not strong.

8th – Ollie – started great, seems to be losing his sparkle but might be a winner.

7th – Danyl – great voice, loads of confidence, seems too easy and too many teeth on the high notes.

6th – Lucie – great voice, looks a very nice person, best performer on big band but doesn’t suit the action. Could do it.

5th - Jamie – great voice, good performer, not sure if there’s enough variation, age might tell.

4th – Twins – great show, loads of cheek, let down by singing unless a niche is created.

3rd – Joe – nice bloke, great musical voice, can perform, best performer on Robbie Williams show, somebody has to be next. Could win.

2nd – Stacey – good voice, can do it, very likeable, thinks she’s not worthy. Would be worthy winner.

X-factor winner – Rachel – good voice, able to perform, right age, was good in auditions, has learnt after struggling and might be on an up if handled right.

The above is trying to be logical my personal choices are Lucie, Jamie, Stacey with Joe to win.

Could hedge my bet and say 1,2,3, 6, 8 could be winners as each week I’ve changed my vote.

I wish I’d watched this show before.  A great example of endeavour at the end and delusion in the auditions.

The show has had empty years before but today the Royal Lancashire Show committee put into place actions to put it on ice saying the costs of 2 flooded years have been too much. The Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society also say that Ribble Valley Borough Council put the final nail in the coffin by refusing to consider a revised traffic plan.  It appears there is still scope for compromise as further discussions are expected and the announcement might be thought to put some pressure on the council.

It is surprising that in a county as big as Lancashire, including its larger Palatine boundary, a location, cash and support can’t be found for such a show.  You would think that Lancashire County Council would feel strongly about it but it seems to be only local councils who are involved and they aren’t being helpful either.

On the other hand why does it have these problems. Is it the date, the location or bad planning.  As they say one mistake is unfortunate, two mistakes look like carelessness but three mistakes look like ………..

The leader of Preston Council says on his blog.

“Our bid (from Lancashire County Council, UCLan andPreston City Council) is the only one that guarantees the museum financial security. We are offering £400,000 a year plus up to £3.5m to invest in improving the museum in the future. Add to this the very considerable resources of the University and the Councils in helping to promote and market the museum to a wider audience, and it is clear our bid should be the winner.”

This is a generous offer and the effort put into keeping the museum in Preston is to be applauded. Also the option of not having to move and not moving into the unknown must be very strong to the Museum Trustees who are meeting today.  Being a regular visitor to museums and the centre of Manchester who has never been in the Urbis I can understand the Trustees having doubts.  Would I spend £6 on car parking to spend 2 hours in the Urbis, unlikely.

The Council Leaders blog says the Trustees have decided not to meet today. Their decision was expected.

Is Preston heading along a cul-de-sac with the Tithebarn Project?  For many years the Casino was going to be the saviour of Blackpool, the ‘Las Vegas’ of Lancashire.  When the rug was pulled Blackpool had a spell of total loss of confidence having been frozen in anticipation for years. It seems Preston is going through a spell when the Tithebarn Project is it’s main development and until it is resolved then the bus station and buildings in that area are probably getting less maintenance than they would normally receive and who knows what else, a sort of Tithebarn Syndrome.

Blackpool did eventually have more plans and received a lot of cash for promenade extensions, new tram system, shopping malls and repaving the centre but this has happened late and its main conferences have been lost.  So what options are Preston exploring if the Tithebarn Project is lost or watered down and does it matter?

At present the council are not admitting there any unsurmountable problems and this is understandable.  Behind the scenes other options must be considered. For example the bus station is an impressive building but maybe it doesn’t need to be an island and maybe M&S would like a store on the west of the building using the car park as its drive in.

On the other hand I don’t know what M&S thinking on this is. Are they looking for an additional store or is this a drive in store.

The bus station / railway station location continues to be a big negative for Preston, not to mention where any high speed line, if it arrives, might be. Surely this needs an improvement.

Then there is the loss of face of admitting defeat to the glee of Blackburn and Blackpool. This should be discounted, although easily said.  Lend Lease the remaining Tithebarn contractor seem to be an adaptable company who have been involved in developments of all kinds the world over and maybe as a single lead developer they can offer a plan that doesn’t appear as threatening but over time will become as big as Tithebarn.

There has been speculation about re-organising the Forensic Science Service (FSS) for a few months and today it was announced the laboratory in Euxton, near Chorley, will close with the loss of 185 jobs possibly in 2011. The jobs will be focussed on certain key locations based on skills rather than local police support and 3 sites will close.

There was a debate in parliament in June in which Lindsay Hoyle, David Borrow and Ben Wallace spoke on behalf of their constituents in this area and against the way the government was implementing cost cutting in the FSS.  The point was also made that the nearby University of Central Lancashire has an acclaimed course on forensic science in conjunction with the FSS.

If the government is serious about regeneration of industrial areas these skilled and specialised jobs are a key part of the mix.

Whether there is a loss of local service isn’t clear to me.  How do the FSS work if their lab is 100 miles away – do they have travelling forensic scientists who are always on the road or are there forensic staff in each police force who send samples to the FSS labs.

It seems the service is likely to be sold and to get the most value it is being set up in a commercial way. It is also selling its services abroad so it isn’t just supporting local police.  The point was made in the June debate that the government isn’t so good at supervising these arrangements and people sometimes walk away with sacksful of money.  Although in my own opinion that might be  a red herring depending on the overall gain / loss.

As a side issue the FSS proudly holds the DNA database containing 4 million samples.  I’m sure there are a lot of benefits of such a database and the police would like everyone to be on it, but in my opinion keeping samples from people who are not charged or proven guilty is a breach of civil liberties and should be stopped immediately.

In conclusion this area of Lancashire doesn’t want job losses, skilled job losses, effect on police service, effect on UCLAN and a step backwards on regeneration.