New Threat to Ribble

Ribblesiders will be alarmed to read in tonight's Lancashire Evening Post of new ideas to build floating houses and even hotels - not only on the Docks but possibly on the River Ribble.

Almelo, NGM and Preston City Council have been talking about the plans, according to the LEP:

"Almelo officials are looking to build a huge floating development in their town.

The floating buildings would have their base hollowed out like a ship.

It means they would combat the risk of flooding by rising and falling with the tide of the river.

According to the Lancashire Evening Post, the project would be developed on Preston Docks AND along the banks of the Ribble and would look similar to designs pioneered in Holland and Sweden.

click on the article to read it in full

How hollow was Hudson's promise to Preston people not to mess around with our river?

No-one objects to this idea in the man-made and sheltered docks, however our beautiful, natural, powerful and sometimes dangerous river Ribble is no place for these expensive follies.

Lets get together to take action to 'Save The Ribble' from the greed and stupidity of the developers and our council.

You can contact us at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk

Preston Council Leaders Get A Sandbagging In Ribble Flood Furore

Riversway Councillor Jack Davenport made his point about the blindness of the leadership of Preston City Council to issues of flood risk around drainage and flood defences near the Ribble very vividly at the last City Council meeting, he produced two sandbags which he proceeded to place at in front of Council leader Ken Hudson and his ally Danny Gallagher, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Preston.

According to the Lancashire Evening Post Jack Davenport's "attention grabbing stunt" was a protest over the "plans to build homes on flood plains near the River Ribble... sand was spilled all over council papers and prompted a furore in the chamber over how the bags got past Town Hall security"

The protest came a month after the Council flatly refused to debate a motion about the risk of flooding to Preston residents - the council leaders preferring to put the interests of the developers interested in the Riverworks Project ahead of the interests of Preston People.

Council Leader Ken Hudson told this latest Council meeting that:
"The Conservative group is happy to talk to anyone else prepared to look at funding a study for the Riverworks project"

- they are happy to talk to anyone willing to progress the Riverworks barrage but NOT talk to anyone concerned about the environmental impacts or flooding risks!

Bizarrely, Ken Hudson then went on to accuse those councillors concerned about these issues and who DO wish to discuss them of sticking their "heads in the silt of the river... waiting to be drowned" when it is clearly the pro-barrage lobby who are refusing to listen to the evidence and discuss the issues!

Jack Davenport is calling for urgent action in the wake of severe flooding across the country, that shows how vulnerable many areas are to flash flooding, particularly where drainage and flood defences are inadequate. (As they certainly are near Broadgate and Middleforth).

The risk of flooding to residents in these areas would be greatly increased if the council were to build huge new housing estates on the greenbelt and floodplain land that lines the River Ribble, or if they were to build a barrage across the Ribble in order to raise it to permanent high tide level. Preston City Council says they may be 'going back to the drawing board' with some of these plans from Riverworks, due to questions of whether they are acceptable to South Ribble Council. (Though the fact that they are totally unacceptable to ordinary people in both Preston and South Ribble, or to any environmental organisation does not seem to concern our Council Officials)

One Save The Ribble member was so impressed with Jack Davenport's action that he sent him the following email:

Dear Councillor Davenport,

I'm writing to salute your recent protest on behalf of Broadgate residents about the Riverworks plans.

I feel you are doing an excellent job bringing the flood risk posed by the Riverworks Barrage and Housing ideas to public attention, you are doing exactly what a democratic representative of the public should be doing.

You may be criticised for it by a few political hacks, but I definitely think the idea of using sandbags in this way showed imagination, panache and not a little courage, that will be appreciated by ordinary Prestonians.

Thankyou for representing me so well as one of your constituents, and keep up the good work!

Thatcher used to give her ministers a handbagging - Now Jack Davenport gives Preston Council Leaders a sandbagging!

Jack Davenport said to Save The Ribble:

"the issue I was trying to raise was the issue of flooding from drainage. The issue of Riverworks, though related, was not the exact topic of discussion (that is to come), but the general issue however is that the current administration appears blind to the whole thing and won't discuss it. I've heard of putting ones head in the sand, but never putting it in a sandbag!"

Let us know your own response to Councillor Davenport's sandbag protest by replying to this article below!

Vision Board to be Made More Accountable - But Who To?

Local residents will welcome the announcement in the Lancashire Evening Post this week that Preston Vision Board may be "re-organised" to be made more accountable by including locally-elected politicians as members... but the potential appointment of the Leaders of Preston City Council and South Ribble Borough Council to the Vision Board still leaves us with serious questions which need to be answered...

-How will this really ensure that the Preston Vision Board will be fully accountable to the local residents whose communities and quality of life are at risk because of the Vision Board's AND Preston Council's barrage and building development plans?

-How will this ensure that what local people WANT to see happen in their communities will finally be listened to?

-How will this really ensure either democratic accountability or transparency, especially in view of the fact that the Leader of Preston Council, Ken Hudson, has led the new political alliance at PCC which has voted to remove decisions about big funding bids (such as for Riverworks, say) from the democratic scrutiny and decision-making process of the full Council of our elected representatives into a small select City Centre Committee?

-How will these appointments ensure that the views of the people will hold sway over Preston Vision Board's commercially-driven and narrow-minded Vision for the area, given that the Leader of Preston Council, Ken Hudson, has made the Council's intentions to pursue the Riverworks barrage and the associated building developments on the Penwortham Green Belt and floodplain abundantly clear?

-How will this ensure that the Vision Board have to consider the views and wishes of local people given that so far, Preston City Council have themselves endorsed the pursuit of the Riverworks barrage and building developments in the face of significant evidence that:

a. a large majority of local residents do NOT WANT THESE schemes;

b. both developments would damage the environment on a national, international, as well as local scale by threatening the natural intertidal functions of THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ESTUARY RIVER IN BRITAIN on the one hand (and the internationally important numbers of bird and fish species which depend on it) and destroying a significant area of Green Belt on the other – Green Belt which is also the floodplain which actively protects our communities from flooding and so far, Preston Council’s ruling political partnership is not taking the floodrisk issues of Riverworks seriously .

c. both developments would actively increase floodrisk in the area whereas our flood defences in Broadgate are in a very poor state of repair and need urgent action NOW;

d. Both schemes would waste outrageous sums of money which would be better spent on some of our estates in Preston which are officially acknowledged by Government figures to be amongst the most deprived wards in the country.

-How will these appointments lead to the blinkered Vision for barrages and floodplain developments that both Preston City Council and the Vision Board share being abandoned once and for all in favour of investment in the communities and people who really need it - instead of destroying our finest natural assets for the benefit of property developers and other vested interests?

-And HOW will these appointments make the Vision Board MORE ACCOUNTABLE to the people of Preston when the Chairman of the Vision Board and Vice Chancellor of the University, Malcolm McVicar, says that "Having council leaders on board is a good thing" but also says that "It's my responsibility as chairman to make sure it doesn't slow the process" !!!


You can read more Ribbleside news - such as how you can help out at Brockholes and how you can enjoy exploring the Ribble Way from the comfort of your armchair, and there will be more Tales From The Riverbank from local people posted on the blog soon...

...and the Preston Bird Watching & Natural History Society commence their 115th consecutive Winter Season of lectures on Monday 24th September. Non-members are welcome. For details visit the Preston Society website.

You can contact us at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk