Superfast Lancashire broadband

The Superfast Lancashire Business Support Centre was formally opened on Tuesday 25th June. Based on Leyland Business Park, the centre provides facilities available to Lancashire based companies to help them maximise the business benefits of superfast broadband, by providing a range of courses and practical experience. The centre was opened by the chairman of the LEP, Edwin Booth, the BT national director for broadband, Bill Murphy and the leader of the county council, Councillor Jennifer Mein.

Superfast Lancashire is the council's initiative with BT to make the facility available to households across Lancashire. At the moment around a third of homes can't access broadband at anything other than pedestrian speeds (1-2mbs). Our £130 million initiative (funded by BT, Broadband Delivery UK, European Commission, the county council and the two unitaries) will enable 97% of all homes across the pan-Lancashire area to access broadband at speeds in excess of 30mbs by 2015.

For further information you can look at the website www.superfastlancashire.com.

Oswaldtwistle: Cllr Colette McCormack raising awareness for older people

Immanuel ward Councillor, Colette McCormack, has been at various events over the past few weeks to promote the issues faced by older people.

Cllr McCormack said, "I have attended the National Pensioners Conference in Blackpool on the 19th and 20th June where a young man named Josh from the NUS gave a speech and vowed to get them all on board with the pensioners campaign. I attended the Older Peoples Executive Committee on 27th June as I am a member and I am in Cheshire and Chester Council for the Older Peoples Champion meeting in July.
I will be bringing all the information and best practice back to Hyndburn to share and raise awareness.
One of the things I would like to push in Hyndburn is the Dignity Charter and this will go hand in hand with the Dignity Code for Older People that we have adopted in Hyndburn. This was brought up at NPC and most councils will be trying to push this."

Oswaldtwistle: Highways issues resolved

Oswaldtwistle Labour Councillors Colette McCormack and Bill Pinder have recently been working on highway issues at the junction of Frederick Street and Union Road, Cherry Crescent, Yew Tree Drive and Hawthorn Ave, amongst many more.

Highways issues are a County Council matter but Colette and Bill have been taking a more proactive approach and addressing these issues directly as they arise.

Rishton: Councillors to host bingo afternoon for village charities

Cllrs Ken Moss and Clare Cleary are to host a regular series of bingo afternoons in aid of the local village charity pot. Rishton Charities is made up of three separate funds and interest generated on the capital is used to help residents in need every year around Christmas.

The two Councillors already host monthly bingo afternoons with the Rishton Festival committee at The People's Centre and this has helped to pay for a substantial part of the administrative costs of hosting the annual event. This second monthly bingo session will be held at Rishton Free Gardeners Club on Parker Street and is hoped to raise a little extra money to put into the Rishton Charities pot. Clare Cleary will be baking fresh cakes for the event while Ken Moss calls the numbers.

Cllr Moss said, "There are many fundraising activities across the village every year but we never actually do anything for our own charity. We have taken the decision that we should also do something to look after the residents right on our doorstep. The previous bingo afternoons have been a great success and if we only generate £50 a time it is £50 more than we had before."

The first Rishton Charity Bingo starts at 2.00pm on Saturday 13th July at Rishton Free Gardeners Club and both members and non-members are welcome. The cost is £5 for six games plus £1 for a brew and a cake. The bar will also be open for refreshments.

Labour's position on shale gas

Over the past couple of weeks there have been a number of government announcements regarding shale gas extraction (or 'fracking') and the potential impact on the UK's energy supplies of extracting shale gas. The conclusion was that the government believe it to be safe and also a tremendous opportunity to generate a significant amount of gas from under Earth's surface. It's evident that more is known about Lancashire than anywhere else in the UK, as exploration is well advanced.

At this stage we are some way from understanding the scale of what is underneath Lancashire but it's estimated that reserves in the Bowland Basin region, which stretches from Cheshire to Yorkshire and includes Lancashire, could be in excess of 1,300 trillion cubic feet. The UK as a whole uses around three trillion cubic feet a year.

Since the recent news reports of possible shale gas extraction in Hyndburn, Leader of the Council Miles Parkinson and Graham Jones MP have been inundated with requests for further information. Nothing firm is in place at the moment but the Labour party have been asked for their stance on the issue.

Labour has always said Shale Gas extraction should only go ahead if it is shown to be safe and environmentally sound. If the Government believes that is the case then we will look carefully at that against the six clear conditions we have set, but the idea that this form of gas extraction can have the same impact here in the UK as it has had on gas prices in the United States is considered wishful thinking by most experts.

Questions are being put to the relevant ministers:

"The Government is consulting on tax incentives for shale gas production. Does the Minister not agree that before we discuss the economics of unconventional gas the Government should first address the legitimate environmental and safety concerns?"

"The Chancellor, who increasingly determines energy policy these days, recently announced the creation of the Office for Unconventional Gas. Will the Minister ensure that one of this new body’s first acts is to ensure that companies moving from exploratory work to extraction must formally advise local authorities and community groups?"

We must ensure we have an affordable, secure, low-carbon energy supply and gas will have a role in our future energy mix, especially as we move away from coal-fired power stations. It must be alongside an expansion of renewable energy capacity and investment in carbon capture and storage but under the coalition Government investment in clean energy has more than halved and the Government has created huge uncertainty by dithering and failing to commit to a 2030 decarbonisation target.

Our six conditions for the restoration of Shale Gas “fracking”

1. Mandated disclosure of chemicals used in fracking and assessment by regulator of their potential environmental impact and only non-hazardous chemicals to be used in fracking mix.
2. Must be a full assessment of the well integrity to ensure casing and borehole not susceptible to leaking; this must meet current industry standards for other types of drilling.
3. Micro-seismic monitoring of the area prior to any drilling to determine what the potential impact would be on local area.
4. Full assessment of impact of water use on local community, including assessment of how much of the water will be reused or recycled.
5. Assessment of groundwater methane levels prior to fracking.
6. Should be at least a full year’s monitoring of all of the above before any drilling can proceed.

Cllr Miles Parkinson has requested that Hyndburn Council contact Cuadrilla and invite them to give a presentation regarding Shale Gas (Bowland Basin) to the Full Council in September. Hopefully they will be able to attend and (as with all presentations to the Council) residents will be able to submit questions along with Councillors.

Petition regarding Dangerous Dogs

The Hyndburn Labour group, in conjunction with Graham Jones MP, are circulating a petition to the Government for stricter laws regarding dangerous dogs in Great Britain. Hard copies of the petition are available to sign at the office of the MP on Abbey Street in Accrington:

To the House of Commons,

The petition of Haslingden and Hyndburn residents declares that seven children and two adults have been killed by dogs since 2006 and that 6,000 admissions to hospital are caused by dog attacks each year leaving many victims scarred for life; notes that the introduction of Dog Control Notices is supported by many organisations including the Kennel Club, the Dogs Trust, RSPCA, Royal College of Nursing, British Veterinary Association and the Communications Workers Union; and believes that the Government’s current proposals on dangerous dogs do not go far enough. The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to amend the law to cover attacks on people and animals on both private and public property, to enforce Dog Control Orders, to introduce Dog Control Notices giving the authorities the power to intervene, to introduce the compulsory micro-chipping of all dogs and to promote responsible dog ownership, including training owners and dogs.

Barnfield: Councillor calls

Cllr June Harrison has been making house calls around Barnfield to answer queries from residents, ably assisted by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Miles Parkinson.

If you have any queries you would like answering in your area then please find the contact details for your nearest Labour representative under the 'Your Councillors' tab on the homepage of this blog.