Recent News and Views
Queensway Inquiry 16 November 2009
We preview the Inquiry that starts next week and bring you QED's statement about it. David is taking on Goliath - again!.......
European Treachery 16 November 2009
Unusually, we bring our readers a view expressed by someone else. Anne Palmer from Wolverhampton - counterbalance salutes you.....
Clifton Ward By-election 31 October 2009
We bring our readers the runners and riders in the Clifton Ward contest. New names, old hands, and potentially another Lytham Green make this and interesting - if fairly
predictable - contest....
Extra-Ordinary Council 30 October 2009
An un-scheduled Council meeting changes the Constitution yet again, and the Conservative block vote abandons £800,000 worth of planning already done, to go back to the drawing
board for another £25,000 worth of resurrected plan to sell off the Town Hall, and build a new Ivory Tower on the car park at the back of the Public Offices. So who voted for that daft idea then.......
Banana Republic of Fylde 30 October 2009
Whilst moves are afoot to consider twinning St Annes with Japan, we ask why not twin Fylde with Zimbabwe. After all, there are just so many similarities....
Faux Scrutiny Committee 24 September 2009
It was supposed to be a Scrutiny inquiry but it was always going to be a whitewash - and it was - but it was not without heated exchanges and a few surprises. We report on the
meeting that saw a call to censure Fylde's current Chief Executive.....
Streetscene: Whitewash 20 September 2009
Monday sees a Scrutiny Committee investigate Streetscene's financial black hole that closed the swimming pool. But guess what... after two years of
investigation, no-one's to blame. What a surprise. So will the full council be allowed to debate it? Will St Paul of Elswick shine the searing light of truth into Fylde's dark corners? We make some predictions.
Obituary: Cllr Bill Thompson 7 September 2009
We mourn the passing of one of Fylde Council's most respected Councillors. He treated people fairly and earned their respect by doing so. Never
afraid to speak his mind and to vote according to his conscience, Fylde is a lesser place without him.
Ashton Beer Gardens? 28 August 2009
The Commissar wants Ashton Gardens to become a vibrant outdoor leisure centre. So he's breaking his covenant and bringing in the booze. But it's
already an Alcohol Free Zone isn't it? And the police confiscate alcohol in the Gardens don't they? Well yes, but in his great scheme of income generation, those are minor details......
HUBble, Bubble, Toil, and Trouble.... 25 August 2009
Fylde rejects Queensway, and for the moment turns its focus on the M55 Hub as a possible site for most of the 5,500 houses it has to
build. Trouble is, Blackpool wants the same land for its Growth Point Scheme that will fund inner Blackpool regeneration. Are things about to get nasty?....
Queensway at Planning 10 August 2009
Fylde's Development Control Committee prepares to consider Kensington's Queensway Application, but it will be decided by a appeal in November. Officers are
preparing to contest the appeal because they would have recommended refusing the application as it stands. So what's going on and what does it mean?.....
SHLAA 5 August 2009
Fylde's Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (where future house building could take place) is considered amid nervousness that it will frighten the horses
(that's you and me) if we get to see the 'Urban Extension Maps'. We provide a link to them......
Glowing in the Dark? 28 July 2009
SITA plan to expand the disposal of low level nuclear waste at Freckleton marsh tip next to the River Ribble. What does this mean for locals? We give our
take on what's happening.....
Exclusive. Pooling Ideas? 17 July 2009
He's emptied the pool but he can't stop the leaks. The Commissar sidelines a plan for a
combined pool and leisure scheme that might have seen St Anne's pool re-open in January and opts to 'tender' it out - which will take longer. What's going on? Who made the offer, What did they say, and why didn't other elected Councillors know about
it? We have the inside track for our readers.....
Porn Pawn? 15 July 2009
The Chief Executive makes allegations to Fylde's Standards Committee about 'porn' being found on a Councillor's laptop. Cllr Renwick leaves the Politburo Cabinet. He
is 'mistakenly' nominated to another committee then removed. A member of staff is understood to be off work. Are there any links between these events? Did anyone jump or were they pushed? As the Standards Committee inquires, we speculate on what could
have happened.....
Heeley Road - The Endgame? 4 July 2009
What's the delay? We report on the blog and media musings of the Commissar, published a week or so before the Cabinet had met to make the decision. So
what's going on then?.....
Snippets - June 09 26 June 2009
A collection of tit-bits and scraps of news, including: Street Trading - a good decision, Newspaper sales surge in the Kirkham area, Multi Area Agreement put
on hold, New cabinet posts, Is the wind of change blowing for the Commissar? St Anne's Pool update. North Beach Car Park - change is in the air here too, as with the Town Hall 'Accommodation Project' - Wherever next?.....
Council - June 09 6 June 2009
Two items on Monday night's Council agenda have far reaching implications for all Fylde residents for the next 20 years or more..... |
LCC 2009 Results 5 June 2009
We bring our readers the results of the Fylde wards for the Lancashire County Council election. Who got in and who missed out?.....
Dune and Dusted? 22 May 2009
Controversy surrounds the bulldozing of a sandhill back onto the beach. Normally balanced and measured people are screaming for the blood of a surgeon. We say, hang on a minute, is this
all getting a bit out of perspective?.....
In the Doghouse 22 May 2009
Changes to the former dog control byelaws have generated some unwelcome adverse publicity just before an election for the County Council. We look at the background to the original byelaws
and what has changed. The answer is not what you might think......
LCC Elections 2009 - Runners & Riders 13 May 2009
The runners and riders are declared, and the date for withdrawals is passed. We bring our readers the definitive list of candidates for the LCC 2009 election, and
paint a brief pen-portrait of each of them known to us. We also assess their chances of success......
Capital, Dear Commissar, Capital 6 May 2009
With empty coffers at the Town Hall, the credit-crunched, sub-prime Cabinet at Fylde resorts to borrowing money to make its staff redundant. Find out how much in debt Fylde
Council is, and how much this latest loan will cost us all......
Hollywood Nurseries Planning Inquiry 6 May 2009
We pay tribute to the Council as they resist the mighty Kensington who want to develop an isolated former nursery at Whitehills for housing. We
have a day-by-day blow-by-blow account and pen portrait of the Planning Inquiry......
Roads to Riches? - or Ruin? 5 May 2009
With growing interest in the proposed road across the moss, and the proposed 'Blue Route' that might make a connection with it at Whitehills, we look into the background of
these roads and ask where did the idea for the road come from? Why is it needed? And if the road is built, will it be a good thing or a bad thing?......
Cabinet Re-shuffle 29April 2009
Fylde's Leader reshuffles his Cabinet. Four heads roll into oblivion as the axe falls, but only three replacements are being made. Find out who's in and who's
out - and what the implications might be......
Exclusive. Fylde's Worst Decision? 2 April 2009
Cash strapped Fylde insists it can still afford to turn down an offer of £310,000 and give
away another £250,000 to Muir Group in what one Councillor calls the worst financial decision Fylde Council has ever made. We give the low-down on an exchange of letters between the Council and would-be purchaser - property development company 'Town
Manor Developments Ltd'......
4.9% = 5.1% 22 March 2009
When is 4.9% equal to 5.1% ? - when its a Geographically Adjusted Council Tax Rise, that's when. We stand open mouthed and in awe as the Commissar tells us an increase of 5.1% is
really 4.9%. Mind you, financial incompetence is becoming the stuff of legends for Fylde ......
Snippets - March 2009 19 March 2009
UKIP lands in Fylde with an open meeting next week. Sour grapes from the Commissar on not getting the MP's nomination? Warton and Hollywood Nurseries planning appeal news. 'Cheap Staff'
jibe. Donkey Work. and the Hostel Saga Continues - all the tit-bits
of news for March 09.....
Council Snapshot: March 2009 17 March 2009
A picture of Fylde's Budget meeting for 2009 as the Council is conned into morphing into yet another operating format. We now seem to have an official 'Opposition' party
resplendent with a shadow Leader and shadow Politburo Cabinet types............
Riots in the Streets? 5 March 2009
The second in what we expect to be a trilogy or quadripartite of musings on the state of the nation's finances. On the day the UK starts Zimbabwe-style 'Quantative Easing' we
look at what it's all about and what it means for people. Will it lead to riots in the street?
Obituary - Milton Lane 4 March 2009
We mourn the passing of a man of the people dedicated to representing his electorate and keeping Fylde's water pure......
Planning and Parking 23 February 2009
Queen Elizabeth Oades calls in a decision about cheaper parking to highlight the filching of money FBC was given for a new planning system. We show how Fylde is being
inundated with planning applications because of terrible financial decisions the Politburo Cabinet has made.....
Throwing in the Towel ? 20 February 2009
The swimming pool standoff between John Coombes and the YMCA nears its climax - who will blink first? Will any of Fylde's swimming pools stay open?.....
Being Positive No 2 19 February 2009
We say 'well done' to some of the currently deserving members and staff of Fylde Council for their work above and beyond the call of duty.....
Exclusive. Corruption in Fylde? 13 February 2009
Cash-strapped Fylde turns down an offer of £310,000 to buy the Heeley Road site and sells it for £250,000. Then it bungs the buyer a grant of £250,000. We ask: Can they do sums
at all? Is this just incompetence? Is it corrupt logic? Is it the right way to run a council? Has there been a deliberate intention or conspiracy avoid tendering this site - and if so, why?.... 
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