We will not be ground down by proposals

The application (No 99/00314/cu) claims to be for "change of use from derelict land to provide additional car parking". A more accurate description would be change of use from green space to derelict land.

Interestingly, the application states no trees to be felled. But then trees already felled don't count, do they?

Factual matters apart, isn't this application a direct challenge to the Lancaster District Local Plan proposals? The currently deposited plans clearly mark the area as Urban Green Space, so surely all the comments in section 5.6 should apply, and there is no mention of change of use being permissible.

Acceptance of this application would be effectively aborting new Local Plan during its conception. What an advert that will be for the council's creditability!

This application must be refused and the area restored to its former green glory now or do we tear up the Local Plan and have a free-for-all?

Giant Axe &

Rose Cottages,

Long Marsh Lane. May l on behalf of the Traders on Morecambe's Festival market thank the residents and visitors to Morecambe for their kind support in signing our petition against the closure of the market for a week long festival. Regarding Stanley Henig's sarcastic remark "much ado about nothing" - he is one of the highest paid councillors in this county, but he wasn't going to be out of pocket by serving the community. But was it "much ado about nothing" when more than 100 market traders had to vacate the market hall for a week just to accommodate William Shakespeare and Co, and were charged £7.75 per stall to empty the market? The elections in May cannot come too soon for the traders who live in the Morecambe and Lancaster area.

We all have a vote.

C Gibson

Secretary

Festival Market While l welcome news that Kingsway site is to be refurbished, this major investment is very timely indeed. I must ask what about the added congestion such an intensive development could bring (its a mini resort) though l did notice that the planning application does include a bus terminus, sadly more people are likely to use any free parking that site will offer though than buses.

This news come on top of the city council's announcement that it has withdrawn current proposals for Lancaster's new bus station, the council still hoping not to lose out on Capital Challenge funding for the project. l must ask why, if such funding is needed wasn't it planned correctly in the first place? With the council current vogue for art deco why not refurbish the present bus station properly, as it's the cost of bus fares and the frequency and condition of the buses that primarily attracts people, not bus stations, Morecambe's little used new bus station being a case in point.

It is wonderful that Willamson Park has finally been restored, let's hope that Happy Mount Park gets the same lavish treatment and that whatever replaces the Dome and Bubbles is as impressive as the proposed Kingsway development, will we get an announcement soon?

Stephan Jones

Lib Dem Candidate

Slyne with Hest. I have recently come across a campaign which l would like to share with readers through your letters page. The national and widely respected charity War On Want are asking Gordon Brown to introduce a "Tobin Tax" on currency speculation. They claim this would enormously help people in poor and underdeveloped countries.

Almost two trillion dollars (two thousand billion dollars!) is exchanged between currencies on the worlds markets every day. 95 per cent of this is speculation - people trying to make a fast profit by guessing which way currency exchange rates are likely to unproductive.

War On Want are asking for a small tax of 0.25 per cent to be levied on these unproductive transactions. This will calm financial markets and help developing countries such as Brazil whose economy has been undermined by speculation in recent years. In addition the tax will raise revenue of up to £250 billion of international development.

The "Tobin Tax" is named after its Nobel prize winning inventor James Tobin and l think that it is an excellent idea. I have written to Gordon Brown asking him to raise the issue with European, American and Japanese Governments. I would urge your readers to do the same. If they would like more information they can obtain it directly from War On Want by phoning 0171 620 1111

Brian Penney

Lancaster Cllr Fearnley's response to questions concerning the accountability of £705,000 of public monies at Williamson Park Ltd was an interesting and selective reply.

The letter was prompted by an article which informed readers that the work in the park was nearing completion.

The report also stated that the work had been funded by the Lottery grant plus "matching" funding form the council and Williamson Park Ltd. A rather misleading article in view of what Cllr Fearnley has to tell us.

Consider the following points:

Cllr Fearnley mentions that the management board of WP Ltd consists of five councillors and one officer but fails to name them. Could we be told the name of the officer please?

The cost of the disabled access to the Ashton Memorial and the restoration of the temple is disclosed as an amount of £134k rather than being split. Why does he not tell us the costs, to date, for professional services?

He fails to indicate completion dates for the funded work.

So far he says £485k has been spent compared with my revised total for competitive tendering for this kind of project at £392K.

I agree the park is now better than before the WP company was formed but there's a lot of cash gone in and should the public expect any less? The issue is, and always wil be, has public money been well spent and does it represent best vale?

Bearing in mind that the lottery money has been pledged for more than two years I wonder what could have been produced by competent local business people and the local public. I look forward to seeing the results of the remaining unspent funds and hope it is an improvement on what's been spent to date. I'd also like to thank Cllr Fearnley for his pledge to the park.

Public Servant Not quite all we need to know

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.