LANCASTER, SCOTLAND
29/4/05: According to latest Labour Party statistics, Lancaster is now in.. .er.. Scotland. Labour's candidate Anne Sacks has stolen a march on all the others with this news and already has the Scottish Labour logo well displayed on her latest leaflets. 'Being in Scotland will have many benefits for Lancaster" a spokesperson was quick to tell us. "Both tourism and fishing will improve and the chances of a link road to Heysham being built are now virtually nil."
The Conservatives are claiming that they always knew Lancaster was in Scotland but did not want to reveal its location to terrorists.

IT'S ALL GONE QUIET....
29/4/05: The six protesters who are being prosecuted by the University for Aggravated Tresspass (following a demonstration against the University forming dubious business ties without consultaton) held another protest last Monday - but this one was a bit quieter than their last.
Under a banner reading 'Lancaster University denies Freedom of Speech' the six had their mouths plastered over, symbolising what they see as the University's trying to gag their efforts to draw attention to its unsavoury business links. A University spokesperson said that protesters who broke the law would be prosecuted.
In terms of being heavy-handed however the University still has much to learn from its new business chum Shell, a company condemned by Human Rights Watch for its barbaric impact on the Ogoni, Ijaw and other peoples in the Niger Delta, whose land, environment and livelihoods have been devastated by the invading oil company, which has funded Nigerian government actions responsible for unprecedented numbers of people being driven off their land, harassed, beaten and killed.
Read the background story
Ethics on Trial - Lancaster Quakers appeal for the prosecution to be dropped.

LSP SMALL GRANT APPLICATIONS
28/4/05: Lancaster District Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) are inviting applications to their new small grants fund. The fund is targeted at community groups who can apply for grants of up to £2,000.
The Lancaster District LSP Executive have set aside £20,000 of their second home funds to establish the small grants fund. This is the first time they have introduced a small grants fund for community groups. The fund is aimed at enabling small projects to be carried out quickly and is particularly intended for community and other local groups including Parish Councils and schools. Applications are open to anyone, and are now being sought for anything that helps fulfil the aims of the Community Strategy to improve communities.
In particular, the fund is intended to help local communities to ‘take part’ which is one of the themes in the community strategy. This theme aims to build trust in local democracy and ensure that all people can play a part in decision making; to expand opportunities for young people to play a part in their communities and to encourage everybody to take part in community life, to talk to and get to know their neighbours.
Application forms are available on line here or from Alison Kinnon, LSP Co-ordinator, Lancaster City Council, The Town Hall, Dalton Square, Lancaster, LA1 IPJ. Tel: 01524 582588 or email: Akinnon@lancaster.gov.uk. There will be two rounds of bidding with £10,000 allocated to each round. Bids for round one should be submitted by the end of May and for round two by the end of September 2005.
Last year, the LSPs second home funds were used to support issues that emerged during public consultation as local people’s top priorities. In total 22 projects and activities were supported by the LSP in 2004/05, including £25,000 for the new Morecambe One Stop Shop for Young People, to provide support and services for young people in relation to drugs, mental health and sexual health issues, youth counselling, access to employment / training and independent living skills; £13,000 for improved management at Lancaster Bus Station; £21,000 towards SAL’s Place, the new one-stop shop
for victims of domestic violence and a selection of smaller projects including; £6,300 went to Pedal Power, a cycle recycling and training project operated by Furniture Matters; £1,580 to Ridge Primary School to run monthly discos for local children and £6,900 to the YMCA to run a Teenagers and Alcohol Education project.

BYPASSING THE QUESTION
28/4/05: Transport Solutions for Lancaster & Morecambe asked Geraldine Smith (Labour candidate for Morecambe & Lunesdale) for her view on the Heysham M6 Link (Northern Route). Here is her reply in full:

Heysham Port – M6 Link Proposed Northern Route
I have always held the view that the Northern route was by far the least favourable of the three options originally put out for consultation. It offers the least opportunity for developing the areas derelict Industrial sites and the regeneration of Morecambe. It does nothing to relieve the internal Morecambe-Heysham-Lancaster traffic congestion. And it has the highest adverse environmental impact on the people and communities adjacent to it.
I articulated these views during the planning inspectors inquiry into the Western Bypass and over the years have consistently repeated them in the media, at local, county, regional government levels and in Parliament. Nothing has happened in recent times to cause me to change my opinion.
It is my intention to write directly to local residents informing them of views and suggesting a course of action to follow. I will ensure that you receive a copy of the document prior to its general circulation.
I hope you find these brief remarks helpful.
Yours sincerely
Geraldine Smith
Labour Party Candidate

DUTCH RADIO COMES TO VIRTUAL-LANCASTER
28/4/05: Virtual Lancaster went international today as Dutch National Radio Presenter Gert Hendriks came to Lancaster to find out about the local dynamics of a swing city. Apparently the Dutch are getting over their own problems by enjoying ours for a while and are curious to see how people deal with the conflicting issues of an improved economy, an illegal war and a Prime Minister who promises to resign if he's elected.

WYRE GONE POSTAL - NEW VOTES TO BE ISSUED
28/4/05: Wyre Borough Council have confirmed that the clerical error that has led to 16,000 postal votes being invalidated only affects postal votes for the Lancashire County Council Elections and not the General Election. The voter identification papers were mistakenly given numbers which did not match the ballot papers, invalidating the votes. They are reprinting the paperwork and will send out 16,000 new postal votes to replace the current ones on Friday. There is a possibility that this this may lead to a legal challenge to the validity of the results. (Lets hope that this time they manage to get the address printed in the right place to save someone the job of folding them all.)

TORY LEAFLETS GIVE WRONG MRSA FIGURES
27/4/05: The Conservative party has sent letters and placed advertisements claiming that 170 people contracted MRSA in local hospitals last year. However, in that period, only 37 people actually contracted MRSA in Morecambe Bay Area Trust hospitals. In fact, local MRSA rates per bed are actually amongst the lowest in the country. The local trust was also in the top 20 nationally for the results of the independent hospital cleanliness inspections. Read more..
It appears that the Conservatives have been counting hospitals as far afield as Furness, Westmorland, Blackpool and Chorley as "local”.
Local Liberal Democrats have noticed that this seems to be part of a nationwide strategy – e.g. According to the North Wales Daily Post, Conservative propoganda claimed that 125 patients in Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust had contracted the virus last year. In fact, Welsh Assembly statistics show 25 patients contracted MRSA in that year. According to the BBC, In North Yorkshire, their leaflets claimed there had been 247 MRSA cases at the local hospital in the last year when there had only been six.
Parliamentary Candidate for Morecambe & Lunesdale Alexander Stone says: “We need responsible oversight of our health service; but we do not need scare campaigns which whip up public anxiety and demoralise hard-working NHS staff. We should also recognise the positive achievements of Morecambe Bay Area Trust hospitals.”

ELLEL PARISH PLAN MEETING
27/4/05: A public meeting was held in the Club on Chapel Street, Galgate on 26th April. Feedback on the results of the parish plan survey was given by students from the University Management School, and Carolyn Hall with other representatives from the Parish Council and Community Futures.
The main findings included the way the village is valued because of its rural location. A lot of concern was shown about crime and anti social behaviour, particularly dog fouling. (70% of respondents) with 76 written comments on the back of the survey forms on this subject.
Road safety issues were next on peoples' agenda, with residents suggesting flashing speed signs and traffic calming measures.
Young peoples' issues were aso raised. More activities for young people and better playing facilities on the village green and in the Crofters Fold estate were called for.
The meeting called for people to volunteer to join four action groups on these topics and everybody was invited to the next Parish Council meeting on the 9th May, to move forwards on these issues.
SB.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS:
InfoDay - Feminist Alternatives to the G8.
27/4/05: A group of Lancaster women has got together to plan an afternoon of workshops, speakers, discussions, presentations, performances inviting us to think about, learn about and consider the possibilities that exist beyond the visions provided by the G8. (You can read about the anti G8 campaign and also Make Poverty History here).
"We are looking for women who would like to speak or facilitate workshops, perform or present something. We can provide accommodation and travel costs for unfunded contributors.
"We are interested in many issues - including the particular ways women everywhere are affected by the ramifications of G8 policies, such as water and health care privatisation, erosion of civil liberties, toxic environments, landlessness, poverty, and war.
"We are interested in grassroots women's groups, who through their very existence and ways of organising already provide alternatives to the world of the G8.
We are interested in considering how, as women living in overdeveloped countries, we may begin to free ourselves of the ways of life which depend on furthering our own and other people's suffering."
The idea for this event sprung from a public meeting about the G8 held in Lancaster in March. The women involved in organising the event are not affiliated to any particular organisation and have come together specifically to organise this event. It will be held on Sunday 5 June, from 2pm onwards, at the Friends Meeting House, Lancaster.

CLERICAL ERROR MAY INVALIDATE YOUR POSTAL VOTE
26/4/05: Electors living in the Wyre area who have requested a postal vote have been asked to check the paperwork they receive. The number on the ballot paper should match the number on the declaration of identity form. Wyre staff are sending out 30,000 sets of postal voting papers and have been notified of a few examples where the numbers do not match, due to a clerical error. If they differ, it could render a ballot paper invalid when returned.
Postal ballot papers are being sent out for both the General Election (Lancaster & Wyre Constituency) and the Lancashire County Council elections.
A spokesman said: " We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. If anyone finds their numbers are not the same we ask them to please call us on 01253 887257 or call in at the Civic Centre in Breck Road, Poulton-le-Fylde and we will make sure they get the correct documents."

BEST FOOT FORWARD: Meanwhile, hats off to Liberal Democrat candidate for Morecambe South Cllr John Day - John injured his foot at the start of the campaign and has been doing his rounds on crutches - in addition to honouring his committments as Mayor. Stout chap!

AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN?
21/4/05: The City Council has closed the pavement and immediate area on Bridge Lane, between China Street and St. George's Quay, for building work after walling was found to be unsafe. But the closure could prove more dangerous than the risk of a collapsed wall as pedestrians dodge traffic rather that take the long detour to the pelican crossings.
Pedestrians now have to either take a very long detour to a 'safe' route to get to the Quay, crossing the road on China Street and then back to St. George's Quay via the pelican crossing at the Bus Station. Instead, frustrated pedestrians - many of them school children - are simply dashing across China Street, walk down Bridge Lane on the Church Street side and then dash back over the road by the YMCA.
Council officials say that during renovation works being carried out to the wall situated between the back of the footway and Mitre House car park, workers discovered the wall is unstable and measures had to be taken to prevent pedestrians from using the footway in case the wall collapsed.
The building and wall is apparently owned by a pension company but the City Council has a lease on it.
As a result of concerns raised by Virtual-Lancaster after children were seen running in front of traffic, local councillor Jon Barry raised the issue with council staff, who say they have told Property Services that measures need to be taken as soon as possible to stabilise the wall and re-open the
footway. They are in discussion with the property owner.
An advance warning sign 'footway ahead closed' closed has been placed next to the dental practice building on China Street, but this is not stopping people from taking their lives in their hands by jaywalking across the one way system.
Council staff acknowledge the safe route, via signal-controlled crossings on China Street and the Bus Station, is longer and pedestrians will be tempted to take a "short-cut" across the bottom of Bridge Lane.
The "safe route" is also dangerous: pedestrians are also crossing from Chapel Street to the taxi rank in front of buses to get to the pelican.
Perhaps fortunately, Wheelchair users and people with prams cannot of course do this easily, because in a classic piece of bad design work, the Bus Station frontage on Cable Street has pillars which block the pavement for such pedestrians.
"Unfortunately a large number schoolchildren cross at the bottom of Bridge Lane every school day and have done this for many years," a council official told Virtual-Lancaster. "The school has been asked to warn them not to do so and we have looked at ways of forcing them to use the signal controlled crossing.
"Unfortunately, there is no solution to this problem. If barriers were placed, there would have to be a break in them to allow pedestrians to cross the Damside Street at the Cable Street junction and pedestrians would walk around the outside of the barriers, which would be a worse situation than existing."

ELECTION CAMPAIGN: A CLOSE RACE?
22/4/05, updated 24/4/05: The hotly contested election battle for the Lancaster and Wyre marginal seat is hotting up. Labour and Conservatives are front runners in the campaign but, so far, it seems Labour is proving the most active in the fight to get candidate Anne Sacks elected.
The Liberal Democrats, Greens and UK Independence Party are also fielding candidates. The Conservatives apparently think they've won the seat for their candidate Ben Wallace and seem to be resting on their laurels. Apart from some posters, adverts and just one mailing we haven't seen much local activity. (They managed to get just six people out for the visit of one of their 'heavy-hitters' earlier this week).
Labour is fighting hard to keep the seat - they won it by a very slim majority of just under 500 votes in 1997 - and their campaign work may be paying off, although fears of low voter turnout are not being ignored.
In 1997, 74.9 per cent of locals voted in the Lancaster and Wyre constituency - still more than the national average, but down four per cent from the 1992 election. In Morecambe, research from the Political Science Resources Centre at Keele University also reveals turnout was 61.1 per cent - down from 78.35 per cent in 1992.
"I've noticed a lot of people who said only a month ago that they were planning to vote Lib-Dem or Green because of the war or Blair are now saying that they are going to vote Labour because they don't want a Tory MP," one Labour Party campaigner told Virtual-Lancaster.
"Although the Tories are by far the favourites, for the first time since Anne was selected I actually believe there is the possibility of retaining the seat."
However hearing of this one Galgate resident said: "this will be offensive to people, because it suggests they are without consciences and have short memories about the Iraq war. Why would anybody with a conscience and principles even consider a vote for Blair? People who find neither New Labour nor the Tory Party palatable, and who care about such things as the environment would do far better to stick with it and vote Green in the election, and not be taken in by the spin. In the long run, we need a better way of doing politics, a fairer election system, and ways of getting away from Tweedledum and Tweedledee politics".
In Morecambe and Lunesdale, Geraldine Smith is the only candidate to have leafleted the whole of Skerton, although the Liberal Democrats have distributed some 5000 leaflets in the area. Labour County Councillor Nikki Penny has also been active.
Both national and county elections take place on 5 May. Virtual-Lancaster sent a list of 20 questions to all the parliamentary candidates in the Lancaster and Wyre and Morecambe and Lunesdale constituencies.
• You can read their responses on this web page: click here

BUILDING CAPACITY
22/4/05: Six artists' approaches to buildings and architectural spaces feature in a new exhibition at Lancaster's Storey Gallery which runs from 23 April - 25 June. The exhibition, which is being pened tonight by Richard Wooldridge, President of the Lancaster & Westmoreland Society of Architects, features the work of Gordon Cheung, John Frankland, David Gledhill, Lucy Gunning, Hiraki Sawa and Alison Turnbull.
The exhibition is an attempt to engage with ideas about architectural spaces in general, and about the Storey Gallery space itself, in response to plans underway for the transformation of the Storey Institute into a Centre for Creative Industries.
The exhibition also includes Virtual Storey, a virtual walk-through of the controversial plans for development of the Storey Institute, including specially commissioned artworks.
Web Link: www.storeygallery.org.uk

BUILDING ON STRENGTHS
22/4/05: The second C-ART Exhibition will be held tonight Friday 7-9pm & 11am - 4pm Saturday at Central Lancaster High School, Crag Road Lancaster. Featuring works by professional artists from Luneside Studios, plus outstanding contributions from the Lancaster District & Morecambe Bay Art Societies. This is a rare chance (unique really) to view the work of so many local artists under one roof.

GROT SPOTS
22/4/05: Our "Litter" pages highlighting just some local "Grot Spots" have been revamped, with the latest eyesores now appearing on this page in our Community section - click here
If you've got a bug bear about litter -- perhaps you've found all the election posters someone has stolen from both Labour and Tory supporters and dumped somewhere this week? -- let us know via ed@virtual-lancaster.net
Seeking a break from stumbling over plastic bottles, bags and worse, Ken Walton has been walloped by the creative muse and written a rather charming little ballad about it all. You can listen to it at www.carandol.net/Hey.html.

SETTING STANDARDS
22/4/05: The City Council is seeking people to be part of its new Standards Committee which will aim to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members of the City Council. An application form, together with full details of the terms of reference of the Standards Committee, the type of person we are seeking and additional background information, is available from: Administration Services, Town Hall, Dalton Square, Lancaster, LA1 1PJ. Telephone 01524 582073. Application forms must be submitted to the City Council's Administration Service by 5.15pm on Friday, 6th May, 2005.

BREIFLY...
+ 22/4/05: The Lancaster Guardian reports a 'disabled' man who claimed some £26,000 in benefits has been prosecuted after being filmed clambering on the top of a van and carrying large planks of wood. (Web link: www.lancastertoday.co.uk. Please note, this site does not work for some Mac browsers, which is very odd since many of the Guardian's journalists use Macs...)
+ 22/4/05: Four local teenagers have been given a final warning after going on a ball-bearing shooting spree in Lancaster this week. If they're caught again they will be charged. Read more in this week's Citizen.
+ 22/4/05: The BBC's long-running antiques valuation show will be at Lancaster Town Hall on Thursday 22nd September, 2005. For more information see the website: www.bbc.co.uk/antiques
+ 22/4/05: Do you want to improve your local environment? Whether you want to plant a community orchard, produce a booklet to encourage local wildlife or start a new recycling project, there is help -- and possible funding -- at hand to do this. More info on our Environment Page
+ 22/4/05: There's a Dynamo ride this Sunday to Scorton. Meet at 10.30 a.m. at the Skerton end of the Millennium Bridge. It'll be a gently undulating 20-30 miles to the cafZ in Scorton. More info on 01524 63641. (Dynamo rides are purely voluntary. You are invited to participate entirely at your own risk and you are responsible for your own actions, injury and losses. No unaccompanied children, please.)
+ 22/4/05: The last call for entries to the Biodiversity Photo Competition featured on our web site. Final submission date is 29th April, so the coming weekend might be a good time to get a photo of a native tree in leaf, rather than stark winter views. Entry forms (and list of native trees, if needed) available from photos@artistsbooks.org
+ 22/4/05: A late respondee to our 20 Election Questions, The UK Independence Party's John Mander has now sent us his answers, which you can read on this page in our News Section - click here. John also thoughtfully included his personal manifesto, not featured on our site as no other candidate sent one in; but we were puzzled to learn that "Little purpose remains in electing our own MPs..." in the face of Brussels supremacy. In that case, why is he running?

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