Olympic Torch comes to Ormskirk this Friday

The Olympic Torch reaches Ormskirk on Friday morning – and motorists using the town are being urged to plan their journeys to ensure any disruption is kept to a minimum.

Burscough is the first leg of the relay in the borough, and it will start its journey there at 8.39am, having left Croston 10 minutes earlier.

The torch relay begins its journey through West Lancashire in Burscough at 8.39am on Liverpool Road North, opposite Rowan Close. It will travel down Liverpool Road to the Red Lion pub, arriving at 9.01am.

Traffic will be restricted along the A59 as the relay passes through Burscough.

The relay begins its journey through Ormskirk at 9.04am on Burscough Road, opposite Grove Park and will then continue down Burscough Street and onto Derby Street, Stanley Street, Moor Street, St Helens Road, and Park Road before ending the West Lancashire leg on Southport Road at its junction with Heskin Lane at 9.37am.

The Olympic Torch cavalcade will move very slowly – the torchbearers will be moving at approximately 4mph. Rolling road closures will be in place, which means the Police will stop traffic in stages along the route.

Lancashire County Council has put signs on all the roads affected to warn drivers of delays.

The torch relay is carefully planned and the timings given above are as advised by the organisers. However, the timings on the day might change. Motorists are strongly advised to start their journeys early or to find alternative routes. It is estimated there may be delays of around 45 minutes, so drivers should plan ahead to avoid any problems.

Stewards, including many volunteers, will be stationed at road junctions to offer assistance to members of the public.

Who’s taking part?

Some very special people will be carrying the torch through West Lancashire. Claire Heaton, Nyall Bell, from Stockport, and Dan O’Hara, from Manchester, are the torchbearers for Burscough.

Anna Hulme, from Ormskirk, Toria Swift, from Ormskirk, Pamela Tompsett, from Burscough, Angela Davies, from Greater Manchester, Julie Jackson, from Skelmersdale, Bernie Buxton, from Liverpool, Paul Hardaker from Liverpool, and Norman Wells from Southport, are the torchbearers for Ormskirk.

A band from Burscough Priory Science College will perform in Burscough while bands from Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Engineering College, Glenburn Sports College and Lathom High School will play on the streets of Ormskirk to celebrate the world famous sporting symbol coming to our streets.

What other activities are planned?

Sports and arts events have also been planned for Coronation Park in Ormskirk to celebrate the torch coming to town.
Members of Momentum Trampoline Academy, Ormskirk Tennis Club, Rose Basketball Academy and North West Taekwondo will take part the sporting showcase, which takes place between 10am and midday.

There will also be a demonstration of boccia from the West Lancs Schools Sports Partnership. Boccia is similar to bowls in that competitors aim a ball at a white target ball or jack, and has been a Paralympic sport since 1984.

Other sporting clubs have been invited to take part and if people watching feel inspired to have a go they will be able to try some of the sports.

The bandstand will host an aerobics display by West Lancashire Community Leisure staff and a zumba session led by local instructor Jackie Davies.

Edge Hill University will be there to promote their activities.

As well as the sporting demonstrations huge banners showing cultural aspects and images from each of the five continents that represent the Olympic Games will be on display in the park.

West Lancashire Borough Council, in partnership with Lancashire County Council, has joined forces with schools and other organisations, to create this Cultural Olympiad project. There will also be an opportunity to make your own piece of memorabilia for the day.

Sarah Jane will be facilitating an activity area where you can make your own vuvuzela, as seen at football World Cup matches in 2010.

Breaking News: Olympic torch to travel through Ormskirk and Burscough

THE Olympic Torch will be carried through the streets of Ormskirk and Burscough on its way to the opening of the 2012 Games in London, it has been revealed.

Organisers today announced that West Lancashire will be among the 1,018 communities across Britain where people will be able to see the relay event.

It takes place on Friday, June 1, and will carry on to Southport, Ainsdale, Formby, Crosby, St Helens, Huyton, Knotty Ash, Old Swan, Liverpool and then over to Birkenhead. Details of the specific route will be made available nearer the time.

As an Ormskirk councillor, I think this is fantastic news for Ormskirk and comes hot on the heels of two brilliant events in the town this year, the Ormskirk Motorfest and the Borough Council’s bestowing of the Freedom of the Borough on the Duke of Lancaster Regiment just a few weeks ago.

This event will provide another great boost for the Borough and cements its place as a venue for top events, which can only be good news for residents and of course of our local businesses.

So make a date in your diary for June 1, 2012, – it promises to be another magnificent crowd puller!

For further details, visit http://www.london2012.com/games/olympic-torch-relay/where-is-the-olympic-flame-going/locations-by-region-and-date.php?location=North+West&x=23&y=17

Video: Freedom of West Lancashire given to the Duke of Lancaster Regiment

TODAY I was honoured to attended the official ceremony where the Duke of Lancaster Regiment were given the Freedom of the Borough of West Lancashire.

Following a moving service at Ormskirk Parish Church, he headed down Church Street and Moor Street for a parade and speeches.

It was a glorious day weather wise and people packed into the Town Centre to watch the parade. Afterwards, it was off to Edge Hill University for an official reception where we were treated to some more performances from the Regiment band, sumptuous food from Greaves the butchers in Up Holland and some fine ale courtesy for the Burscough Brewing Company who brewed a special ‘Duke of Lancasters’ bitter for the occasion.

Speaking to Regiment officials at the event, it was clear how much they valued being given the Freedom of the Borough and the boost it has given to the brave service personnel who service in places such as Afghanistan.

No changes planned for West Lancs Parliamentary constituency

Despite months of speculation, the Boundary Commission last night announced that there are no planned changes to the the West Lancashire Parliamenatary constituency.

And I have to say I am not surprised by it. Of course, anyone who follows politics will know that leaked copies of the Boundary Commission for England’s report were available online well before the one minute past midnight embargo, giving plenty of time for people to mull over its recommendations.

But even before then, I thought it was hard to see just what else could be done with West Lancashire, as it is uniquely constrained in terms of its neighbours. Looking at the proposed changes in other seats, there was clearly a reluctance for constituencies to straddle county boundaries, meaning that any plans to pair parts of the current West Lancs constituency with neighbouring Southport, Wigan or St Helens North were out.

Of course, one of the more straightforward ideas was to make the constituency mirror the Borough Council boundaries, taking North Meols, Hesketh-with-Becconsall and Tarleton out of South Ribble, but this obviously would have started a knock on effect which meant that, which ever way it was sliced or diced, the numbers just wouldn’t have added up.

Looking a bit further afield, it gets a bit more interesting, especially in central and south Sefton where the proposal is to take Formby’s Harington Ward and put it into the existing Southport constituency. This will worry Lib Dems as it is a strong Conservative area.

How the new Maghull seat may look

Elsewhere in Sefton, the new Sefton Central seat and the Knowsley seat are both being abolished, with some Knowsley wards going into a new Maghull seat which will include the one remaining Formby ward, Ravenmeols – splitting Formby in two. The other Sefton constituency, Bootle, will now encompass the traditionally true blue ward of Blundellsands, as well as Kirkdale in Liverpool and traditionally Lib Dem stronghold of Victoria Ward in Crosby.

The new Bootle seat would take in Blundellsands

So all in all, it’s a case of ‘nothing to see here, move along’ if you’re in West Lancashire, but the proposals for Sefton will, I’m sure, as someone who has worked there, spark a number of interesting debates.

The full Boundary Commission for England proposals for the North West can be found here.

Video: Ormskirk Motorfest

Today I attended the eagerly-awaited Ormskirk Motorfest in Ormskirk town centre.

Thankfully the weather stayed fine and crowds lined the streets to see a fabulous exhibition of vintage vehicles. Coronation Park was also a hive of entertainment, and added to what was a real family day out.

I’m the first to admit I know nothing about cars and see them primarily as a means of getting from A to B, but today I saw them in a whole new light and really learned a few new things.

Ormskirk as a town is steeped in history and it was the perfect backdrop for the event. Congratulations to all those who made it possible.

I took many pictures of the event, some of which I’ve now added below, and here’s a short video report of what you missed if you weren’t able to attend for yourself.

On your (single quote) marks… and mind your grammar!

Firstly, if you haven’t been to my site before, I’d like to warmly welcome you. You may have been tempted to visit after reading about it in this week’s local press.

It hit the headlines after a Labour councillor claimed he was “angered” because I stated that Ormskirk is the ‘capital’ of West Lancashire in this recent blogpost.

The full sentence from my blogpost which caught his eye was as follows: “Ormskirk is the ‘capital’ of West Lancashire and should have a fully functioning station with public access.”

The Labour councillor, surprisingly, took umbrage at this suggestion and decided he wanted to give this blog some free publicity by writing to the press about it.

Anyway, the thing I noticed was that the councillor’s press release (reproduced in part below) omitted the single quote marks from the word ‘capital’ which appeared in my original blogpost. In both the councillor’s press release headline and in the body of the text, the single quote marks had gone AWOL.

Strange that… but if anyone finds the missing quote marks please do return them to the Labour Group Leader.

Admittedly, I’m surprised Labour decided to draw attention to this.

The largest town in the Borough, population wise, is Skelmersdale. But nothwithstanding that, Ormskirk is widely recognised as the administrative centre of the Borough.

Afterall, it has a hospital (sadly now without an Adult A&E thanks to Labour cuts some years ago), a magistrates’ court (which Labour tried to shut down), a university, a Register Office and a council HQ. It is also the HQ of both the local Conservative Party and the local Labour Party. With all these facilities, is it not logical to suggest that Ormskirk is the closest thing to a ‘capital’(note the single quotation marks) we have in West Lancashire? I think so, and so it follows that Ormskirk should have its own police station which is open to the public.

Fairly straightfoward, but obviously not where Labour are concerned.

I do wonder though what the Labour councillors in Ormskirk think of their Labour Group Leader’s comments? Maybe they agree, or maybe they don’t. Maybe they didn’t even know about his comments until they picked up the paper today… either way it would make for an interesting follow up for next week’s edition.

Anyway, here’s my full reply to the press. Have a read and, along with what I’ve said above, I’m sure you will make up your own mind up:

“I am flattered the Labour Group Leader has revealed he is among the growing numbers of people in West Lancashire and around the world who read my blog at www.davidsudworth.co.uk.

“It’s clearly had a big influence on him as he’s now name checking it and quoting from it in Labour press releases, albeit without transferring the single quote marks from ‘capital’. For some reason these punctuation marks didn’t survive the journey from my blog to the councillor’s press release. I’m sure he will provide Champion readers with an explanation for this aberration.

“I asked the Labour Leader a while ago whether he would be setting up his own blog, but nothing has transpired as yet. I, and the rest of cyberspace, wait with bated breath. Maybe as a close reader of my blog, he will pick up some hints and tips on how to create a site which is both a useful resource for residents and, evidently, required reading for political opponents.

“In the meantime, I will be fighting hard to keep the front desk services open at Ormskirk Police Station; a service which is now under threat thanks to Labour leaving the country on the edge of bankruptcy. Once again, people across West Lancashire are paying the price for Labour’s inability to manage the public finances.

“Sadly, this is not the first time Labour’s actions have had a negative impact on law and order in West Lancashire. A few years ago they tried to close down Ormskirk Magistrates’ Court, and in April, they voted against local Conservatives’ calls for extra powers for our frontline PCSOs.

“Labour are clearly not interested in keeping communities as safe as possible otherwise they would have supported our PCSO campaign. In failing to do so, they showed themselves to be a party which is soft on crime.”

Sonae fire smoke smell affects West Lancashire

I’ve had residents contacting me over the last few days concerned about a faint burning smell in Ormskirk and surrounding areas.

I contacted the Borough Council and it has been traced back to the fire at the Sonae factory in Kirkby last week. I’m advised the smell is non toxic and should pass in the next few days.

West Lancs Labour’s year on year decline

Now that the dust has settled following the local elections, I thought it was time to get my calculator out and look at the results in a bit more detail.

Anyone who follows local elections closely knows that the last two elections have not been fought under ‘normal’ local election conditions. Firstly, there was the General Election on the same day last year, and this year it clashed with the AV referendum, both prompting higher turnouts across the board. Indeed, in one seat, turnout almost doubled.

Because of this, normal rules of comparison in terms of providing a meaningful analysis don’t really apply. The seats fought this May were last fought in May 2007, although with many wards being multi member wards, the electorate in those wards went to the polls last year as well, albeit voting for different candidates in most cases. So I’ve focused on the comparisons between 2010 and 2011 as the conditions (ie higher turnout) were broadly similar and also, both were arguably tests of how the Conservative Party would do when on the brink of power/when in power.

Any party which goes into Government nationally tends to feel knock on effects locally. So one year into Coalition Government, many pundits were expecting the Conservatives to do badly in what is known as a ‘reverse cycle’. Labour believed them, and were full bravado before election day.

Locally though they spectacularly failed to capitalise, and actually ended up losing one seat to the Conservatives in Bickerstaffe. As a result, the Conservative majority on West Lancashire Borough Council went up by 2 seats, something which has not gone unnoticed by one former West Lancs Labour Group leader who wasn’t backward in coming forward about how he felt the local Labour campaign was run.

The Labour Group were quick of course to put their own spin on things, saying made “real progress” in places such as Derby Ward and Knowsley Ward. But that’s all it is; spin. If they actually looked at the figures, they will find that in the past 12 months they have actually declined in these wards.

Take for instance Derby Ward, where I was elected in May. Last year Labour gained 39.4% of the vote, whereas this year they slipped down to a 38% share, losing 1.4% in the process. Meanwhile, we actually increased our share of the vote from 46% in 2010 to 50% in 2011 – a rise of 4%. The same parties stood this year in Derby Ward as they did last year, so the comparison is about as accurate as you can get. And the overall result saw a 2.7% swing AGAINST Labour to the Conservatives – but if you listen to Labour they class that as progress!

In neighbouring Knowsley Ward – another place Labour claimed they were making ground in – this year saw their share of the vote go down a year on year. Again, no progress, just going backwards, with a swing towards the Conservatives.

Elsewhere, there were 5 seats currently held by the Conservatives which recorded a swing to the Conservatives, compared to 3 for Labour in the seats which they retained. Indeed in Labour-held Skelmersdale South, there was a 2.7% swing to the Conservatives. Other Conservative swings were recorded in the likes of Parbold and Aughton Park, with Labour’s share of the vote down year on year.

Given the fact they are now in Opposition nationally and locally (for almost 10 years) they aren’t making progress they thought the would. Indeed, in some seats they currently hold or had expectations for winning, they’ve actually gone into decline – amazing when you consider the usual ‘rules’ about reverse cycle politics as explained above.

Given that Labour wants to get back control of the council, they must be bitterly disappointed by their performances in May.

Update on bin collections

WEST Lancashire Borough Council has released the following updated information regarding bin collections in light of recent bad weather.

As a result of the continuing severe weather, the Borough Council has suspended all refuse and recycling collections until 28 December at the earliest. Residents are asked not to present bins or materials for collection until that date.

If the weather permits, the collection service will resume from Tuesday 28 December as follows:

Tuesday 28 December to Friday 31 December: Every property in the borough will have a collection of grey household waste, even properties that would normally only have a recycling collection. There will be no recycling collections. Residents are asked to present grey bins/bags for collection on their usual day. (Homes which would normally have had a Monday collection will have a Tuesday collection). Extra bags of household waste will be collected. Please continue to separate your materials for recycling – don’t put it in with your grey waste.

Tuesday 4 January to Friday 7 January: The normal collection schedule will resume for household waste and recycling materials but there will be no green bin collections. Residents are asked to present grey bins/ bags and recycling materials for collection on their usual day with the exception of garden waste as there will be no green bin collections. (Homes which would normally have had a Monday collection will have a Tuesday collection). Extra bags of household waste and extra recycling materials will be collected.

Monday 10 January onwards: A full collection service will be provided. Green bins will be collected. Residents are asked to present grey bins/bags and recycling materials for collection on their usual day. Extra bags of household waste or recycling materials will be collected.

If the severe weather continues these schedules may be disrupted further. Residents are asked to be patient if ice or snow does cause more disruption.

Visit the council’s website here for further updates on 4 January 2011.

Video: Snow clearance in Ormskirk

I WAS pleased to see diggers out and about in Ormskirk Town Centre this morning clearing packed ice and snow from the areas around the Clock Tower.

I inspected the area, as well as the strategic road network feeding the Town Centre, and this morning it was working well.

A lot of gritting and clearance by both the County Council (roads) and Borough Council (town centre pedestrian areas) are paying dividends. That’s not to say people don’t still have to take care, but there has been a lot of clearing and gritting taken place to make routes on foot and by car as safe as possible.

Below are some pictures I took…