CITY OF PRESTON LABOUR PARTY

 Riversway Councillor Jack Davenport explains why the ongoing saga of Riverworks and the River Ribble is far from over.

If you thought that with the apparent end of the barrage dream the risk to the Ribble was diminished, please think again.

Recently, the Chair of Preston’s most prestigious quango, the Preston Vision Board, said that developing on the riverside did not necessarily require a barrage.  This not only raises questions about why a barrage was needed in the first pace, but also what exactly the plans are for Ribble and its associated ecology and environment.

The main problem is that there appears to be no vision from the Vision Board, or if there is, it is not one they choose to share with the rest of us.  Original plans, going back a few years now, had great notions of building cafes and restaurants all along the riverbank, with the opportunity of taking a boat out on the Ribble and enjoying the pleasant surroundings that the Ribble could offer.

The problem with this is that the Vision here does not meet reality.  Imagine this scenario; on a boat trying to sample the pleasant natural beauty of the Ribble, but there is as problem.  On the Preston side, the view of two large and historic parks (namely Avenham and Miller) is obscured by giant restaurants with the only lingering image in your mind of people trying to tuck into a pizza, punctuated only by the occasional employee chucking out the rubbish at the back of the restaurant.  As you look to the other side in hope of sampling the wonderful greenery of South Ribble, you find that someone has managed to place a large number of houses on a floodplain.

There are already plenty of restaurants in Preston to savour, most of them very good and there is plenty of variation as British culinary tastes expand and grow.  People don’t come to the park to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city centre, they come to get away from it.  And don’t even get me started on flooding concerns…

There is a need to examine the role of the Ribble and how we best utilise what is not just a part of Preston heritage, but part of Lancashire’s and, dare I say, part of the country’s as well (no less than any other river).  However, developing an area does not necessarily mean that we need build on it. Developing the River Ribble could and should mean enhancing the natural surroundings and maintaining (perhaps aiding) the natural ecology.

This is a point that the Vision Board seems blind on.  For example, recent proposals for developing the docks seem limited to simply building more housing.  When I became a Councillor, it was very much apparent that the Docks had been developed with no clear vision or plan. The stark contrast between flats and housing on side, with the hardly necessary fast food joints on the other, seemed symbolic of a city that in the past had proceeded with regeneration without purpose.

The designs I had seen for the Docklands seemed more focused towards cultural and leisure facilities and businesses.  However new plans, seem more directed towards wholesale destruction of the original Riverworks vision and with it, the surroundings of the Docks and the River Ribble as a whole.

At this stage, it may be easy to argue that Preston City Council could put a stopper to this, but there is a problem.  Firstly, the current Tory/Lib Dem coalition decided to take powers away from Council on accepting major funding for development projects (for example, Riverworks) thus disenfranchising dozens of Councillors and with them, tens of thousands of voters in Preston.  Couple this with the half hearted attempt by the coalition put some democratic presence of the Preston Vision Board, only to have the Chair of the Board say that his role was to make sure that it ‘did not slow the process down.’  A pretty embarrassing put down for any Council Leader.  Compare that with other Councils in Lancashire where the Chairs of their Vision Boards are the Leader of the Council.

There has been no consultation on any plans for Riverworks, apart from an exercise completed by the Labour Party a few months ago.  People are left in the dark and it is no wonder that groups like the Vision Board and, worse still, the Council, are viewed with distrust when people’s opinions are neglected.  If the democratic authority of the city cannot represent its citizens, what is the point in having it?

If there is to be a Vision for the River Ribble, then it is one that needs to come from the people of this city.  This isn’t an opinion that we want after the fact, it has to be sought right now. The question is, what is Preston Council waiting for?  It doesn’t need permission.