Broadgate Gets A New Community Blog

The Ribble-side community of Broadgate have a new blog, that will report on issues affecting local people in the area.

'Riversider', who helped 'Save The Ribble' set up the Save The Ribble Blog, a key part of our strategy to defeat the Ribble Barrage proposals, is one of the founders of the new Broadgate blog.

He said

"The blog called Broadgate Is Great is a blog that will keep everyone up to date with what is happening in Broadgate and the work of the Broadgate Residents Action Group. It will give everyone in Broadgate a chance to have their say about the things that matter most to them.

The blog wants to paint a positive picture of Broadgate, without shying away from some of the more difficult issues affecting the lives of local people, it wants to build inclusiveness and strengthen the sense of community that already exists in the area, and hopefully add to the quality of life of everyone who lives here"

The blog's 'mission statement' says:

Broadgate stretches from the Continental Pub, all the way to the docks including Hartington Road and Marsh Lane, and up Fishergate Hill to County Hall. All kinds of wonderful people live here. It's a place people stay once they've found it.

Broadgate means everyone in Broadgate, no matter where you started out, no matter what your colour or creed, no matter whether you are young or old. Let's find ways to live together and make our area the best place to live in Preston.

The blog has already carried news about new developments at the Continental pub, and about controversy surrounding press coverage of the closure of the Alma Hotel on Fishergate, as well as a great article exploring the history of the North Union Bridge, one of the finest Victorian bridges spanning the Ribble.

NWDA Commit £300k To Project Nobody Wants

The North West Development Agency has awarded Preston City Council £300,000 and agreed 'in principle' to commit £18 million to council projects which include the Riverworks Ribble Barrage and Housing Scheme.




This is a sign of a major crisis in democratic representation. Huge amounts of public money, and of the time of council officers is being devoted to projects that nobody in Preston has even been consulted on, and all the evidence so far is that those who have found out about the Riverworks project are either deeply suspicious of it or else angry that the council is even thinking about such a socially and environmentally irresponsible plan.

Locals who have seen the 'Composite Masterplan' produced for the council by Taylor and Young are livid that the council is prepared to sacrifice valued local amenities, like football pitches, green fields and allotments to make space for a massive suburban housing estate on the banks of the river (and in the river's flood plain), and deeply concerned about the effects that a barrage would have on wildlife such as the birdlife of the Ribble Estuary that depends on silts being washed down the river, and the aquatic life, including endangered species like the Atlantic Salmon which would find a barrage an insurmountable obstacle to its journey to its spawning grounds.

Locals are also concerned that a barrage, which would raise the river to permanently high tide level, will raise the water table beneath our houses and increase the risk of flooding to unacceptable levels. The Environment Agency has made it plain that development in flood plains significantly increases the risk of flooding.

Why is the council pressing ahead with these projects despite the rising local opposition?

Why is the North West Development Agency which claims to aim to promote the regions 'outstanding quality of life' backing projects that will impact so negatively on the quality of life of people from Preston and South Ribble?

Where are our councillors who made promises of consultation?

What about those areas of Preston that desperately need redevelopment - areas that have been ignored by the council and are now suffering all the social consequences of this neglect?

Why has no environmental audit of the consequences of this barrage even been proposed, at a time when government and opposition alike compete to parade their environmental credentials?

Where is the accountability when these bodies make such huge decisions about our future, and allocate such large amounts of money, without asking for, or listening to the voices of local people?

Save The Ribble has always suspected that the voices of wealthy development companies ring much more loudly in the council chamber than the voices of local people.

It is time for local people to make sure that their voices cannot be ignored any more.

Get involved with the Save The Ribble Campaign, voice your opinions in the local area development framework and get organised to campaign using whatever peaceful means neccessary to stop this mad and dangerous project now.