Made In Preston – the blog

I was reading about a politician in Dundee who moved from Labour to the SNP and handed over power in the city council. Independence is only a step away maybe.  Wonder if it could happen to the whole country and if it would have any implications for Lancashire.

Maybe Mr Blair and Mr Browns biggest legacy will be to make Labour so unpopular in the whole of the UK so that England goes Conservative and Scotland goes SNP leading to independence. Maybe, quite a few if’s.

If Scotland was independent. Scotland seems fairly close to Preston which has benefitted from being in the middle of a London Glasgow axis and the first major stop out of Scotland. What might change in the area?  Would the West Coast Main Line and M6 still have the same importance north of Manchester or would there be a bigger emphasis on its benefits and who pays for it.   I read that Scotland has very high government employment, more than northern England so would that move. Would subsidised work and military factories and bases remain in Scotland.  Could tax or currency benefits be gained in the north of England trading with a European partner who would probably want to go into the Euro for protection. I guess any Scottish government might also be thinking of reverse effects. 

Need to add that I think being British is a great thing. For such a small island to make such an impact on the world there must be something special.  I read in an overseas newspaper that to the British the country is less than it appears to the non-British. That never applied to me as I’ve embarassing recollections of exaggerated statements in foreign company. Probably England is synonymous with Britain and that is why the English don’t think that much about it until some feel poked by Mr Salmond.  So, back on topic, is Preston or the North West thinking about its position in such a scenario? Probably not, particularly if you’ve invested council money into an Icelandic bank. Then again it’s probably less than 50/50.

The RSPB listed the results of its Garden Survey 2009 today.  The results for Lancashire in Birds per Hour (bph) are; 

Starling 4.77 , House sparrow 3.50, Blackbird 2.77, Blue tit 2.25, Collared dove 1.60, Chaffinch 1.57, Long tailed tit 1.41, Goldfinch 1.30, Great tit 1.26, Robin 1.25.

Our garden bph would be: Great Tit 4, Blackbird 3, Chaffinch 2, Robin 2, Blue Tit 2, Coal Tit 2, Dunnock 2, Woodpigeon 2, Dove 2. With Thrushes, Long Tail Tits and Greenfinches occasionally, Goldfinches and Woodpeckers from time to time. Feral Pigeons sometimes arrive.  Magpies are always around but rarely land and so are crows, jackdaws and seagulls. We don’t have starlings although we see them flying over.

Strange bird the Woodpigeon we had two sitting in a tree nearly all day. A bird of great body size with a small head and very timid with humans.  Did they evolve to fill a pie.  One of those in the tree has disappeared but it’s mate still sits there. There was a lot of wooing so maybe it was wooed away.

Check the bph of your county:  http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/results/top10.asp

Extreme bph are chaffinches in north Scotland. The sky must be thick with them. Quite nice birds though, very placid, just sit there looking from side to side chewing a sunflower seed while other birds skip about.

After a bit of watching the pecking order and temperament come out. The robin, a bit of a show off trying to mimic the tricks of more versatile birds and bullying smaller birds but occasionally meeting its match unexpectedly with a Great Tit or Chaffinch.  Have a look yourself.

I’ve been reading about poor care in hospitals, mainly the Stafford incident.  They always bring out the complainers.   Over a year ago I had two minor operations as a day patient at Preston in the plastic surgery ward. I want to say that I thought all the staff were excellent. From arriving to being treated I was well looked after; offered refreshments and given care and consideration. The treatment was well done and successful. 

I’d also say that my treatment in the Dermatology Dept at Clifton Hospital has been very good in this time and the facility is very good.

Preston hospital itself is showing it’s age though and there was a wait as everyone was called in at midday for the complete afternoons appointments. It’s the treatment that matters and I have confidence in the RPH.

Blackpool announced the go-ahead of its Talbot Gateway re-generation today costing almost £300m. A company called Muse (formerly Amec) are to build it starting next year. Unlike Prestons plan it has no flagship shop but  includes hotels, cinema, supermarket, bus station and railway station. Blackpool has just revamped the Houndshill Shopping Centre which is quite attractive and the promenade is having major work to extend it further out to sea.

http://www.musedevelopments.com/talbotgateway.html

The £700m Tithebarn plan includes 2 large stores, moving the bus station to behind the parish church. With a few other offices and improvements to existing buildings.

Look for yourself; http://www.prestontithebarn.com/vision.htm

I’m not commenting on the good and bad, needs more thought than I have time for.

Tuesday 10th March a springlike,  sunny day. Take a trip to Cleveleys – the new promenade looks good, people are sitting in the sun looking at the sea and there is clear visibility to the Lake District and the snow covered fells.  On the way home popped into Poulton and took a photo of the churchyard crocus display, they’re all purple with a few white ones. Funny how yellow crocus don’t flourish as much.

Photos of Cleveleys new prom looking towards the Lake District and of Poulton church, crocus display. Photos taken with a mobile phone, fairly cheap one.

After my note below on Preston Vision I was reading about the vision and the North West Development Agency when another group came into focus.  They are 4NW. A cliche ridden name, can’t say I’d heard of it before. This is what they do:

‘4NW is the Regional Leaders Forum for the northwest of England. 4NW places public, private and third sector stakeholders at the heart of decisions that shape the future of the northwest, its people and places.’

Apparently this replaces the North West Regional Authority that was to have devolved powers prior to it being axed.  They have produced a Regional Spatial Strategy. An interesting  term, ‘spatial’; relating to space. 

Other stuff they have about the region. Like in 2007 the North West was the 7th in terms of value added per head out of 12 regions in the UK having overtaken the West Midlands in 2005 and even gaining a bit on the South East but still 30% worse, London being 30% wealthier than the South East. Interesting to see the 2009 London figures, gross value lost might become the norm.

Quite a bit to look at although a bit blue sky, nice looking website though. http://www.4nw.org.uk/

Carphone Warehouse are in the news in Preston. They have a large call centre in Tulketh Mill and although I’m not too up to speed on the Academy they have been involved in  funding.  They also announced plans to create a hotel in part of Tulketh Mill.  Unfortunately as business throughout the world is declining they are having to cut their cloth to their budget and have announced some redundancies some of which might be in Preston.

I’ve worked in places with redundancy programmes and it’s always a difficult time.  Things seemed to take longer than expected and there was uncertainty about how many, what skills and who could go if they volunteered etc. In the meantime there is gossip, rumour and counter rumour and a sort of head down, I’d be really annoyed if it’s me and not him as well.  Best thing is to get familiar with what your options are, what jobs you could get and keep working as normal. You might find a better job although in a recession it might not be that easy.

Have house prices reached the bottom yet? 

There are a few sources of prices but the Land Registry is the only one that bases them on actual paid prices. The data from them is a bit slower than the Halifax and Nationwide which base their prices on valuers estimates of property which you’d think would differ from actual prices and might have some slant on them.

In January 2009 the Land Registry said average prices in Lancashire were £121,000. In December 2007 they peaked at £137,000. That’s nearly 12% down.  An overall average might hide that only cheaper houses are being sold, so really a comparison of say semi-detached would be more useful.

In August 2007 sales peaked at 2871. Since then they’ve come down to 697 in the last figures which are November 2008. A massive drop and one that must hurt estate agents, furniture removers and solicitors.

The national picture is worse than Lancashire with a decrease around 15% although the average price is £156,000.  So did Lancashire not reach as frothy a peak or is it lagging? In the Times it said the North West wouldn’t recover till around 2016, later than most places. Assume that meant recover to previous peaks.

The decline has continued in every month since the peak although a small shallowing of the curve has occurred lately.  Spring is coming and interest rates are very low. The government is encouraging banks to lend.  Banks only want to lend to low risk customers.  Job losses are being regularly announced.  Is this the bottom?  Would you take the plunge?  The froth has come off the top but it isn’t clear that it’s the bottom.

We’ve bought 2 houses and in both the value didn’t go up much for 5 years but then increased sharply before dropping off again. Like now.

BBC Radio 4 went to Leyland (north of Preston I’m sure she said) in their ‘Today’ current affairs programme at 8am this week. The Lancashire FA are training female referees and this was national news. The FA are looking for more female referees and they might one day referee major matches. The taxi driver was interviewed on the journey back to the station and he didn’t seem to think it was a good idea. Something about ladies not going into mud he said. I don’t see why not, but I wasn’t impressed that it appeared on the radio that one of the ladies couldn’t blow the whistle very well. The pea had stuck maybe.