Lancashire or Local? (Pendle Liberal Democrats)

Pendle Liberal Democrats <info@pendlelibdems.org.uk>

Lancashire or Local?

November 26, 2006 7:45 PM

Liberal Democrat councillors in Burnley and Pendle have set up a series of joint meetings to discuss whether Lancashire has a future for the two Boroughs, starting this weekend.

The Government is creating the opportunity for the control of roads and education to be snatched from Preston and brought to the area. It would also mean local councillors having more say in how health services are provided.

The news comes hard on the heels of recent decisions by the County Council to allow the downgrading of Burnley General Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department and to close three Burnley libraries, and is in spite of the County Council's attempts to get closer to people with its "Lancashire Locals" meetings.

Burnley councillor Coun Darren Reynolds, who lives in Pendle even though he represents Queensgate in Burnley, said that he could see great opportunities for more co-operation between the two boroughs. He said, "If Burnley and Pendle councillors had been making the decision about the hospital instead of Lancashire, I can absolutely guarantee you ambulances would still be arriving at our A&E in a few years' time.

"Lancashire seems pretty much finished now. My Burnley ward is right next to Brierfield and Reedley, which are in Pendle. Some people from Burnley prefer to shop in Brierfield, and it does look splendid with all the work that's been done in the past couple of years. We could do with some of that in the Duke Bar area.

"However, these meetings are just about exploring ideas and possibilities, and it could be that after discussing it and researching it properly we suggest something else. It might be a good idea to include parts of Ribble Valley, for example. In the end it will be down to people to express their views in a genuine consultation."

Pendle Liberal Democrats said that many people getting in touch had wanted to see Pendle going it alone. Coun Tony Greaves said that, whilst this might be ideal, it might not be realistic because Pendle could be too small to be able to run all services so locally.