Lancaster  market has had a reprieve after the Full Council budget meeting voted to look into ways to reduce the financial losses whilst keeping an indoor market in the city . This followed a campaign by market traders and residents supported by the local Green Party to save the market.

Earlier  in February Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and Independents councillors had voted to close the market and bring in a discount supermarket, with only the two Green Party  cabinet members voting to keep the market open.

John O’Gaunt Green Party candidate Ian Chamberlain said: “This is excellent news.. Green councillors have always supported the market and I am sure they will be working hard to make sure that there is a viable plan for it’s future success .”

The Council is currently tied into a 99 year lease after it sold the original market site in the 1990s . One plan suggested by the traders is to put all of the stalls onto the top floor and to let the bottom floor to a single trader. Proposals on the future of the market will be considered by the council at a special meeting to be held before the end of March.

The Co-operative has launched Plan Bee, a campaign and 10-point plan to help save the bee. Worried about the disappearance of bee colonies in recent years the campaign aims to get research going on the causes of the losses and to get people involved in saving bees.

As part of the Campaign the Dukes Cinema is showing the film The Vanishing of Bees on Thursday 21st of Jan at 6.30pm

The Plan BEE website has suggestions on what people can do to help including:

Green councillors have called on the County Council to prioritise gritting of pavements rather than just major roads.  John O’Gaunt ward Councillor Jude Towers said: “Many people, including me, have fallen over in the last few weeks and there seems virtually no gritting of pavements outside the town centre. Lots of old people have been rendered virtually housebound – especially in hilly areas such as Moorlands.”

Cllr John Whitelegg who has seen problems on steep roads and icy pavements in his area said: “Residents in Bulk Ward are happy to lend a hand themselves – however, the County Council has refused my request to re-fill the grit-bins on the Bath Mill estate. Surely, pedestrians should be a priority in this sort of weather.”

Green councillor Jon Barry has contacted County Council officers and asked for a change in policy so that pavements as well as roads are gritted. Green County councillors Sam Riches and Chris Coates will be formally asking for this change in policy at the February County Council meeting.

North Lancashire Green Party has welcomed the rejection of the Centros planning applications for Lancaster’s Canal Corridor, describing it as “a very fine Christmas present.”

Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham has accepted the report of the Inspector at last summer’s planning inquiry into the Centros scheme and rejected all the planning applications.

“This is fantastic news and vindicates what hundreds of my constituents have been saying for the last two years,” commented local Bulk Ward and Green Councillor John Whitelegg.

“We now need to move on and produce a plan that delivers a community vision for this site, celebrates our distinctive buildings and places and does not set out to make us a carbon copy of Basingstoke, Preston or Slough. This work starts today.”

For further details on this story see the Virtual Lancaster News Blog

New Green Councillor for Lancaster East Sam Riches addressed the crowds who had gathered outside County Hall in Preston to protest as Sharon Wilkinson of the British National Party arrived for the first meeting of the new County Council.

Cllr Riches said ” We will make sure that the BNP knows that there is opposition to thier ideas whenever they try to put them forward inside County Hall.”

For further info on oposition to the BNP see the Stop The BNP website or for local info see Lancaster Unity.

The Green Party held Lancaster Central and gained Lancaster East in the Elections for Lancashire County Council on June 4th – congratulations to Chris Coates and Sam Riches and their teams! There was also a Lancaster City Council by-election in our strongest Green ward (Castle) as Catriona Stamp stepped down after a 6 year stint on the Council – Melanie Forrest won it by a long way and joins the 11 other Greens on the City Council for the next 2 years – congratulations Melanie, and thanks to Catriona for all her work over the last few years.

Unfortunately we missed out on other hoped-for wins in Lancaster South East and Skerton – but Jane Fletcher and Ian Chamberlain both came within 300 votes of winning.

The Conservatives now have a big majority on the County Council (51 out of 84 seats), with Labour on 16, Lib Dems on 10, Independents 3, Greens 2, Idle Toad 1, BNP 1 (in Padiham & Burnley West). Overall turnout was 38%.
Results for Lancashire County elections can be viewed at http://www.lancashire.gov.uk

Councillors representing wards across the City have argued that:

• The development will damage retailing in Lancaster City centre, Morecambe and Carnforth.
• The job creation claims are not credible and do not take into account job loss amongst existing retail and service sectors of the local economy.
• It will generate significant amounts of extra traffic on an already congested highway system and the proposed highway measures do not deliver a fundamental solution and will add to the volume of rat-running and environmentally damaging traffic impacts on Derwent Rd and Ullswater Rd.
• The proposals will worsen air quality and add to the health problems of local residents in direct contravention of European and Uk requirements to improve air quality to protect health.
• It is contrary to planning policy at national level and to the Lancaster Local Plan
• The applications will result in a development that will generate considerable amounts of extra greenhouse gases and this is inconsistent with Planning Policy Supplement PPS1 “Planning and Climate Change” and the binding CO2 reductions in the Climate Change Bill currently completing its parliamentary progress. 

For the Full details of the objections to the scheme see;public-inquiry-canal-corridor-objection-march-2009.pdf

To nominate a street simply contact your ward councillor. The deadline for nominations is Friday February 9 2009