Save The Ribble

A blog dedicated to preserving the beauty and delicate ecosystem of the River Ribble, and opposing any 'vision' to build a barrage on our River and develop on our riverbanks, floodplains and green spaces, causing damage to wildlife and the environment and increasing the risk of flooding to our homes. Save the Ribble Campaign is not responsible for the content of external blogs or websites which link here.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Preston Vision Board Funding

The Preston City Vision Board is the body responsible for coming up with the unpopular and environmentally irresponsible idea of barraging the River Ribble, and of building large amounts of housing in the beautiful greenbelt areas in its floodplain.

Councillor Bhiku Patel recently asked Preston City Council "How much money is the city council putting forward in terms of supporting the Vision Board"

The answer given by 'a Council Spokesman', and printed in the Lancashire Evening Post was this: "The North West Development Agency and Preston City Council jointly funded the Vision Board for 2007/8 to the tune of £116,760".



However we find that when we check the record in Hansard, on 26th October 2006, Margaret Hodge told Geraldine Smith MP that the North West Development Agency had given Preston Vision Board £457,000.

There seems to be a very large difference between the figure of £116,760, which the Preston Council Spokesman says comes from BOTH the NWDA and the Council, and the £457,000 that the Minister said came solely from the NWDA.

The Council's quoted figures seem totally out of line with those given by the Minister, especially as we know that the feasibility study into the docks development cost over £120,000, and the feasibility study into the Barrage and Housing plans is likely to cost at least £235,000 (and as this is future expenditure, we don't think it was included in the Minister's figures).

Save The Ribble suggests that to clear up any confusion, the Preston Vision Board should now open up their accounts publicly to the people of Preston, and the council should state exactly how much money and council officer time they are devoting to the work of the Vision Board so that the people of Preston can know for sure:

Exactly how much public money is the Vision Board getting?

How much comes from the NWDA and how much from the Council?

What exactly are they spending it on?


How much, for example, was spent on lunches where Vision Board members met "key decision makers" as part of their "Contact Strategy"?

It's time for some transparency and democratic accountability from the businessmen and bureaucrats who are deciding the future of Preston and our river behind closed doors - as this is public money, we should have a right to know exactly how every penny is being spent, and whether it is being spent in our interests, or in the interests of greedy developers.

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Monday, October 30, 2006

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.

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"The care of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart" Tanako Shozo Save The Ribble Logo