How apt that a TV company chose Newton to film a scene for a fictional production to give viewers the impression of a post holocaust town with few survivors and utter dereliction. The tragedy is the TV company in question didn't have to change anything, they simply let the films roll and showed a picture of bleak isolation. Yet, the objectors and the council seem hell bent on 'saving' Newton from jobs and investment.
If TV companies recognise Newton as a crumbling town lacking in developmemt and investment you'd imagine the local council would be doing everything possible to bring in investment.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Thursday, 9 October 2008
MP urges Parkside support
ST HELENS North MP Dave Watts this week called on rival politicians to unite behind the mega Parkside rail freight plans which he believes can counter the threat of rising unemployment in the future.
The Labour MP says that as signs of the economic downturn begin to bite across the town through company closures and job losses, securing the freight terminal plans becomes “more important than party politics”.
Developers reckon the scheme could create up to 10,000 new jobs from 2012 if they secure planning approval from St Helens Council and the Government for the giant rail freight distribution centre at the former Parkside colliery site in Newton-le-Willows.
http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/3741189.Parkside_jobs_more_important_than_party_politics_says_MP/
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Latest Parkside 2010 newsletter
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Parkside 2010 supporters
The Parkside 2010 Alliance has been set up to demonstrate support for the proposals for the Parkside strategic rail freight interchange. It brings together individuals and organisations from the local community and wider area, as well as regional and national organisations.
Those in opposition to the Parkside proposals have made themselves well known locally, but the voices of those in support has been much less well heard. There is a great deal of support both locally and nationally, and Parkside 2010 is crucial in giving these supporters a voice.
Parkside 2010 is supported by organisations which represent the local community and businesses, environmental campaigners and charities, the regional branches of many major trade unions, the rail freight industry, training and skills providers, as well as local Members of Parliament and local residents.
The following provides an overview of just some of the organisations and individuals that have joined Parkside 2010 in the last few months and what these groups are saying about the proposals.
The Rail Freight Group
“The RFG firmly believes that the development of the Parkside SRFI will make a significant contribution to the transfer of freight from road to rail, an objective that is shared by the Government and all major opposition parties.”
(Lord Berkeley, Chair of Rail Freight Group)
Warrington Chamber of Commerce
“This proposal offers a unique opportunity to both for the local area and region. There is a real need to move freight from roads to rail and rail terminals are an essential part of this process, which will help to reduce traffic movements and congestion on motorways and significantly reduce carbon emissions”
(Colin Daniels, Chief Executive, Warrington Chamber of Commerce)
Numerous local residents
“Don't be taken in by the opposition - this area desperately needs jobs. Not just now, but for when our children grow up."
(Alex Whamond, Local Resident)
Newton le Willows Anglers Association
"Job numbers of this quantity and quality are not found these days so on the strength of this alone the project is of real benefit to the town. But there will also be a new country park, and with this a biodiversity action plan to create new natural habitats, with water courses and features. I have children and grandchildren who would take great benefits from this part of the development, this would eventually become heritage for the people of Newton-le-Willows."
(Edward Marcroft, Newton-le-Willows Angers Association)
CBI North West
“The creation of an estimated 10,000 new jobs for the region, the removal of 100,000,000 HGV miles from the UK's roads and the creation of over 90 hectares of land dedicated to landscape, amenity and biodiversity hits so many of the criteria for building a sustainable economy in the region that it is essential that the proposal is supported and is successful. The vision for Parkside 2010 is one that brings much need prosperity not only to the immediate area, but to the region as a whole.”
(Damian Waters Regional Director CBI North West)
Freightliner Ltd
“Freightliner Limited is the major rail carrier of deepsea containers within the UK. It currently handles in excess of 660,000 container moves a year, of which in excess of 250,000 move through sites in the North-West region.
UK deepsea container growth is expected to grow by 6% a year and gauge enhancement schemes will see a larger percentage of the market move by rail. Whilst existing sites have some room for growth they will be unable to meet the entire demand and therefore new sites will be required.
The Parkside development meets all the criteria required by Freightliner Ltd to handle business growth. It has direct access from the main-line for both diesel and electric hauled locomotives, is adjacent to the West Coast Main Line and is cleared to W10 gauge (which allows carriage of 9’6’’ high containers). It is also well placed for road access to the motorway system, to enable swift delivery to the end-user.
Parkside is a first-class development of which Freightliner will be proud to include within its UK terminal offering.”
(Keith Gray, Business Planning Director, Freightliner Ltd)
UNITE
“The case for Parkside SRFI is made each day on our evermore congested roads, the transfer of freight from road to rail and the creation of much needed jobs in an area where employment opportunities in traditional industries have dramatically reduced must be supported.”
(Bob Rixham, UNITE Amicus section, Lead Industrial Officer - Railways, Buses & Ferries)
Railfuture North West
“Railfuture North West supports the Parkside 2010 proposals because we support the transfer of freight from road to rail to improve the environment, to increase the use of the rail network and to reduce the number of casualties on the roads. Many people are intimidated by heavy lorries and the less of them that we have the better.”
(Andrew Macfarlane, Railfuture North West)
English, Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd
“The Eddington and Stern reports, published towards the end of 2006, reinforced the importance of rail freight. Eddington identified the importance of transport infrastructure to the UK economy, while the Stern report focused on reducing the carbon footprint of the UK. The emissions and carbon dioxide produced by rail freight is ten times lower than produced by road and at a time of considerable concern about climate change, rail freight is the transport mode of the future. That is why Parkside is crucial. It allows more freight to be moved from road to rail, reducing the size of transport’s carbon footprint, and also has the added benefit of bringing jobs and investment to the local area.”
(Tim Robinson, General Manager Market Development, EWS)
English, Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd
The plans for Parkside have the potential to provide an additional boost for the local economy through the demand for skilled and unskilled employees that it will create. Logistics College North West can support local people to fill these roles through its various training programmes. The interchange will also play a vital role in removing significant amounts of freight from our roads. This has tremendous environmental as well as economic benefits.”
Steve Kelsey, representing Logistics College North West (LCNW)
Local residents
“I support the plan for the rail freight terminal. This is a great opportunity to bring extra jobs to this area of the North West and also assist in moving more freight by rail instead of road.”
Brian Litherland (local resident)
“I would like to add my full support to the development of the old Parkside site into a rail freight terminal. I would like to see more industry brought back to the area of Newton-le-Willows, which after all, was right at the centre of the industrial revolution. I have 4 children who will all ultimately benefit from more jobs in this great area of ours.”
Tom Holding (local resident)
“This project is just what Newton needs. Most of the local industry has closed down and this will give a boost to the area and those seeking employment as well as providing parkland in place of a derelict eyesore.”
Graham Barton (local resident)“
Cheshire Transport 2000
Direct Rail Services Ltd
ASLEF
RMT North West
Freight on Rail
Den Dover MEP
Dave Watts MP
Lord Evans of Parkside
Friday, 4 July 2008
Parkside Objectors Get A Taste Of Reality
As anyone could have predicted the objectors responded to the letter supporting Astral's plans for Parkside in the Star a couple of weeks back. It looks like residents have woken up to the issue judging by the comments from registered users in response to the objector's letter; here's a selection...
BigCollier, Newton-Le-Willows says...
12:43pm Fri 4 Jul 08
you can forget about talking sense into any of the nimbys they are a lost cause.Believe me I put their propaganda straight into the bin when it gets shoved through my letterbox.Like the politicians who oppose this and ALL previous parkside schemes they have no answers when you ask them how they intend to replace our lost jobs in Newton.The place is falling down around our ears,semi derelict and dirty and all the nimbys care about is keeping jobs and money OUT!! With Earlestown town hall about to close the council may as well put "Newton now closed" signs up at our borders.
If our hamfisted council are intent on playing politics with this potential investment by passing responsibility to the government they should be aware it will be a Tory minister deciding if we get these jobs or not.That's right, the same Tories who destroyed virtually all our industry single handed.How ironic.
This useless council needs to get its finger out and do something useful for once.Support jobs and a future for our town!!!
If our hamfisted council are intent on playing politics with this potential investment by passing responsibility to the government they should be aware it will be a Tory minister deciding if we get these jobs or not.That's right, the same Tories who destroyed virtually all our industry single handed.How ironic.
This useless council needs to get its finger out and do something useful for once.Support jobs and a future for our town!!!
DSMITHY, Haydock says...
4:41am Fri 4 Jul 08
Just an introduction to reality to the two people who think warehousing jobs are not real jobs and not wanted by local people.My 21 year old son spent 2 years at college due to difficulty finding work, he recently applied for a job as a local warehouse operative, along with 29 other people applying for the same job.Welcome to the real world!!
While you bemoan the loss of manufacturing jobs to other countries people still have to live and eat here and now.The dole pay £50 per week for an unemployed single adult, a 40 hour minimum wage job pays around £250 per week.How dare you sit in judgement of what sort of job and money people will work for when you know full well there will be no alternative for many people.If you haven't lived it I suggest you keep your opinions to yourselves.You obviously have your own reasons for opposing this development and the jobs that will be created-probably something to do with a misguided view that it will adversely affect house prices.I'd have more respect for your opinions if you were just honest about that and ceased with the pseudo concerns about the quality of jobs.
I fully support the proposals and when it comes to the crunch I'm hoping the whole borough lets those in power know these jobs are needed.
While you bemoan the loss of manufacturing jobs to other countries people still have to live and eat here and now.The dole pay £50 per week for an unemployed single adult, a 40 hour minimum wage job pays around £250 per week.How dare you sit in judgement of what sort of job and money people will work for when you know full well there will be no alternative for many people.If you haven't lived it I suggest you keep your opinions to yourselves.You obviously have your own reasons for opposing this development and the jobs that will be created-probably something to do with a misguided view that it will adversely affect house prices.I'd have more respect for your opinions if you were just honest about that and ceased with the pseudo concerns about the quality of jobs.
I fully support the proposals and when it comes to the crunch I'm hoping the whole borough lets those in power know these jobs are needed.
BillMitch, Earlestown says...
7:56pm Thu 3 Jul 08
Here they come, the nimby hordes hell bent on stopping every chance Newton has for development. It makes me laugh hen the nimbys start demanding what sort of development and jobs they want on the site.They don't own the site. Do they ask the people who live near their employment if they mind their works premises being there? Of course not.
Many, many people need exactly the sort of jobs that will be created at Parkside, skilled and unskilled, part time and full time, warehousing and order picking.Being closer to faster movement of good will encourage companies to come here.It makes my blood boil seeing the former mining communities being held over a barrell by narrow sighted nimbyism.No wonder the government are looking to take the politics out of these developments by changing the planning laws.We'd still be living in caves if it was down to this lot.
Many, many people need exactly the sort of jobs that will be created at Parkside, skilled and unskilled, part time and full time, warehousing and order picking.Being closer to faster movement of good will encourage companies to come here.It makes my blood boil seeing the former mining communities being held over a barrell by narrow sighted nimbyism.No wonder the government are looking to take the politics out of these developments by changing the planning laws.We'd still be living in caves if it was down to this lot.
PM, Newton says...
4:04pm Thu 3 Jul 08
Indeed the fight must go on.The fight to ensure the Parkside scheme goes ahead.A third of the site will be a country park so all this nonsense about the scale of the development is moot, currently no one has access to the site.And I notice the nimbys are now demanding "skilled jobs only" in Newton Le Willows.What arrogance to 'demand'the sort of jobs people need or want. This is just further evidence that it is all about nimbyism and placing every obstacle possible in the way of jobs and development.
Friday, 20 June 2008
St Helens Star letter nails it...
A letter in today's St Helens Star utterly nails the Parkside issue....
STAR LETTER: Why we all need to push for Parkside
10:26am Thursday 19th June 2008
By Reader letter »
WHILE I’m delighted the development of the former Parkside colliery site was an issue in the recent local elections the inevitable downside was a further spate of 'nimby’ propaganda from those opposed to the development. The arguments range from HGVs on local roads, saving the greenbelt and questions about the number of jobs created by the development.
The objectors would have us believe that HGVs will be exiting the motorway before taking a leisurely tour through the traffic lights and speed bumps of Newton-le-Willows before rejoining the motorway to enter the Parkside site via a specially built entrance on the M6.
I’ve heard of traffic taking a short cut but it defies logic to try and pretend HGVs will add several miles to their journey touring the local backstreets for the sheer fun of it. Then we have the greenbelt argument. The land earmarked for development is currently inaccessible to the public.More than 225 acres of the land, over 30 per cent of site, will be dedicated to a new countryside park including woodlands, lakes, wild open space, and managed parkland. This will open space for local people rather the private farmland.
The countryside park will be planned with local residents, community groups and schools in mind. Along with the thousands of new jobs there will be related training provision, working with local education providers and job centres to ensure local people benefit from these new job opportunities.
The jobs available will include train drivers, signal staff, warehousing, security, administration, retail and site maintenance. There will also be provision for a free bus service to take workers from the local train station to the site.
This important development will inject £200million into the local economy every year, not only providing long term employment but putting money into people’s pockets to spend in local shops and the local service sector.
Does anyone doubt Newton’s shops and town centre needs the money? Most of the shops in the town centre are either shuttered, derelict or fast food shops and Newton is fast becoming an economic ghost town. Even in the wider St Helens area we are still leaking full time jobs with little being done to replace them.
I have no problems with Councillor Suzanne Knight backing the 'nimby’ campaign. I do have a problem with Cllr Knight serving as Deputy Leader of the Council while opposing thousands of jobs and massive new investment into our area.
Such a senior position comes with a duty to promote the interests of the whole borough. What sort of message does it send out to potential investors in our borough when the Deputy Leader of the Council is opposed to such a huge opportunity to regenerate our area?
I would also urge Cllr Brian Spencer to stop sitting on the fence and get behind the scheme. He quite rightly makes supportive comments about the Saints Stadium proposals so let’s have the same backing when it comes to jobs and investment for our borough.
In addition I would just remind Cllrs Spencer and Knight that it is their own Liberal Democrat Party’s policy to build rail freight interchanges to help ease congestion and combat pollution.
They can’t duck their responsibility on this vital issue any longer and it’s time for the prevarication to end and the leadership to start. The scheme needs the Council’s support and full backing to ensure these jobs aren’t lost to our area forever.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
What it's all about
An interesting article below, the Council's previous City Growth Strategy highlighted the Parkside plans as being instrumental in the areas regeneration.I wonder if the new one says likewise....
Private investment cash finds its way to St Helens for regeneration
Mar 19 2008 by Alex Turner, Liverpool Daily Post
Alex Turner looks at how an influx of new money is rebuilding the former industrial town
LIVERPOOL may be bustling with billions of pounds worth of new private sector funded property regeneration schemes, but ten miles down the road St Helens has been struggling to do the same.
The town, famous for its glass and mining industries, has not seen any significant private sector investment cash in recent years. Instead it has had to rely on public funds to kick-start regeneration schemes. But all that could be about to change.
Pilkington, the glassmakers that began life as St Helens Crown Glass Company in 1826, employed 16,700 people in 1970.
By 1992 two-thirds of the workforce, more than 10,000 people, had gone. Two years later, another 1,000 jobs had been shed and now less than 2,000 people are employed by the now Japanese-owned company’s home town operations.
The end of the coal mining industry was no less dramatic. At 7pm on October 24, 1992, Parkside Colliery at Newton-le-Willows ceased production. It finished the mining careers of 720 people, but it was also the last pit in the once-huge Lancashire coalfield that had employed tens of thousands of people.
Over the last decade the rugby club’s fortunes in dominating the domestic game have gone against the grain, but it is now increasingly finding its fortunes tied in with those of the town.
It’s no surprise then that one of the key private sector developments now on the drawing board is the St Helens Stadium plan. It is certainly the project that grabs the headlines. Another big private scheme is Parkside Strategic Rail Freight Interchange, being developed by Astral Developments.
But the major private sector investments are only just entering the planning process and to date a lot of the regeneration that has taken place in the town is heavily subsidised by the public sector.
The 2,800 sq m development of Atlas House, on the site of the former headquarters of St Helens Glass, will house 300 staff from the Children and Young People’s department, while the £6m Enterprise Centre unveiled last month which will house St Helens Chamber of Commerce and start-up businesses is being funded by the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, Europe’s Objective One programme and St Helens Chamber. The £63m redevelopment of St Helens College is largely funded by the Learning and Skills Council. But they all feed into the strategy of laying the foundations for economic growth.
Bob Hepworth, the council’s director of regeneration and urban housing, said: “A lot of the regeneration to date has been residential and taken place on former colliery sites.
“Housing growth has been key, we have delivered housing-led regeneration.
“We have submitted St Helens in partnership with Halton and Warrington as a place for housing growth.”
The development of three urban villages, Lea Green, Moss Nook and Vulcan, will create 2,400 new homes before 2016.
He said: “The housing theme is so important to us, we are the only Merseyside borough growing in population.”
The average selling price is £135,100, compared with a Merseyside average of £149,400 or £222,100 in Cheshire. The changes in the borough ar e not just about delivering places to live, but places where people would choose to live, and not just for cheap housing.
And attracting a good workforce can be important for the future.
St Helens Council’s head of regeneration, Aidan Manley, said: “I think the challenge over the next 10 years will be growing the knowledge economy. Because we are coming from a lower base, we have to work that bit harder.”
HOWEVER one unavoidable problem is a hangover from the glass and coal industries that continues among the workforce, of believing they are owed a living by the town.
Today more than a quarter, 26.2%, are classed as economically inactive compared with a national average of 21.4%.
Incapacity benefit claimants make up 11.7% of the workforce-age population, while the national average is 7%, and in St Helens proportionally more people have been claiming for more than five years.
The UK generally is trying to grow its knowledge economy, but St Helens is not in the vanguard of that particular employment revolution - not yet, anyway, although there are positive signs.
GCSE results have improved, and last year St Helens went above the national average for 5 A*-C grades.
And on other measures the town is also improving. It has, for example, moved in a positive direction on the index of multiple deprivation and crime rates are falling. Commercially there are new developments such as Mere Grange, located within a mile of junction 7 of the M62, which will offer 32,000 sq m of office space, while nearby Micklehead Business Village and Haydock’s Empress Park will bring the total to around 40,000 sq m.
Mr Hepworth is confident that companies will find St Helens an attractive proposition.
“My guess is that firms will relocate from Warrington,” he said. “We still don’t have congestion in St Helens and were recently voted by Virgin Money as the North West’s most car-friendly place.
“The town still has a lot to do but it has a lot of ambition. It doesn’t sit still.”
AND in one crucial measure, the town is making huge strides.
Mr Manley said: “One thing that was missing was a seriously high levels of business start-ups. We have invested heavily in that and are now hitting 500 a year. In the past there has been a small number of big employers but in times of recession there is more danger of them closing. A more robust economy will have a larger number of SMEs.”
There are plans to continue nurturing the number of start-ups. The St Helens Enterprise Centre, which is scheduled to open in December, will cater for up to 30 start-ups, while Catapult and Catapult Too are established as hothouses for creative businesses.
Meanwhile the town is developing a ”can do” reputation. Its council has a four-star rating from the Audit Commission and the Chamber of Commerce was voted the best in the country in January.
It is also about to republish its City Growth Strategy in the coming weeks, four years into the 10-year plan. The town was one of four pilot areas chosen to deliver this approach to regeneration, which is driven by the private sector, and is credited with encouraging much of the town’s recent progress.
The council’s economic development manager, John Whaling, said: “The original City Growth Strategy was a 10-year strategy for the economic development of the borough. Its a testament that we are having to review it after 3-4 years because the majority has been achieved or is being achieved.
“There will be 85 projects in the revised strategy. The main themes about business infrastructure, image and aspiration have remained the same but it is the projects that have changed.”
St Helens is not seeking a golden bullet solution to the town’s problems, but is instead focused on developing the individual building blocks of economic stability and success. However this approach doesn’t address the one thing that is very difficult to deliver.
A town that is famous for things it no longer does is in need of something to build its future identity around, otherwise its confidence will become beholden to the vicissitudes of sport.
And from there it is only a drop-kick to becoming another identikit struggling post-industrial Northern town.
For now, though, St Helens is ready for the future while it searches for its 21st-century identity.
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Visit Siobhan Burgess' site
Siobhan Burgess has an excellent little site about Parkside.You can read it here
Here's a bit below:
Thank you for taking the time to look at my site, as you may see, it is still under development,and will probably be subject to change over the coming weeks and months.
I decided to start this site as an alternative to using my space as a blog for the proposed Freight Distribution centre development at PARKSIDE, in Newton-le-Willows. This is the area which includes the former Parkside Colliery site, which closed over ten years ago, with the loss of many jobs, both in mining and also in local businesses, with the resultant loss of revenue in the town.
We just have to look around the town now to see that something is desperately needed to restore a healthy sense of pride in what we have. I believe that the development at Parkside will provide many local jobs, not just within the distribution centre but also in local industry and shops.
Parkside 2010 site
The site for Parkside 2010 is now up and running, hopefully as the scheme progresses news updates will be available to keep supporters of the plans up to speed.
Parkside 'war of words'
I'm sure everyone has now read at least one article relating to the recent war of words which suddenly erupted out of the blue regarding the plans to develop the former Parkside colliery site
Interestingly one of the comments was that Councillors shouldn't just tick government boxes.Well, we can all agree with that.But what if the boxes being ticked are government boxes and boxes as set out by your own party's policy? According to The Liberal Democrats policy document "Towards Carbon Free Transport" they would "build road-rail freight transfer depots". An utterly sensible approach in my opinion.
Interestingly one of the comments was that Councillors shouldn't just tick government boxes.Well, we can all agree with that.But what if the boxes being ticked are government boxes and boxes as set out by your own party's policy? According to The Liberal Democrats policy document "Towards Carbon Free Transport" they would "build road-rail freight transfer depots". An utterly sensible approach in my opinion.
Referendum?
With the introduction of a political edge into the Parkside issue during the 2008 local election campaigns it's interesting to note the outcome for what I presume are the pro Parkside development candidates and anti Parkside development candidates- I take "Pro and Anti" to mean either for or against the current plans that are on the table:
Newton 2007
Lib Dem 2003
Labour 613
Newton 2008
Lib Dem 2028 + 25
Labour 605 -8
Earlestown 2007
Labour 1090
Lib Dem 1000
Earlestown 2008
Labour 1242 + 152
Lib Dem 951 - 49
Two councillors vocally opposed to the current Parkside plans in Lowton and Golborne lost their seats. I do not currently know the views of the new councillors on the issue.Looking at the results as a whole I don't particularly see it as a ringing endorsement for the objectors. Although the issue would be better off being non political people can make up their own minds as to the votes cast.
Newton 2007
Lib Dem 2003
Labour 613
Newton 2008
Lib Dem 2028 + 25
Labour 605 -8
Earlestown 2007
Labour 1090
Lib Dem 1000
Earlestown 2008
Labour 1242 + 152
Lib Dem 951 - 49
Two councillors vocally opposed to the current Parkside plans in Lowton and Golborne lost their seats. I do not currently know the views of the new councillors on the issue.Looking at the results as a whole I don't particularly see it as a ringing endorsement for the objectors. Although the issue would be better off being non political people can make up their own minds as to the votes cast.
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RachS, St Helens says...
9:15am Fri 4 Jul 08
What's the point in attempting to attract new business to our area if we prove our lack of ambition by not supporting this investment?What's the point of training our young people for employment if we are prepared to reject thousands of jobs? How can we be serious about tackling poverty and disadvantage if we reject regeneration to replace our lost industry?
I've read the plans, I see nothing in there that equals the armageddon I keep reading about from the protesters.Taking millions of HGV miles off the road, inreasing our attractiveness to new business, making it easier for existing business to compete, making thousands of new jobs available to local people (remember, we ALL pay for unemployment) and the creation of a large new and accessible country side park. Most other boroughs would think we were mad. As far as I'm concerned our Councillors should be marching in the streets demanding the facility opens tomorrow.Yes to a new stadium and no to new jobs? I like rugby league but it doesn't pay the bills for most St Helens folk, nor does it offer a future to many people who can't see one. I'd urge everyone to get behind these plans before we lose another chance to bring our area into the 21st century.
Rach
What's the point in attempting to attract new business to our area if we prove our lack of ambition by not supporting this investment?What's the point of training our young people for employment if we are prepared to reject thousands of jobs? How can we be serious about tackling poverty and disadvantage if we reject regeneration to replace our lost industry?
I've read the plans, I see nothing in there that equals the armageddon I keep reading about from the protesters.Taking millions of HGV miles off the road, inreasing our attractiveness to new business, making it easier for existing business to compete, making thousands of new jobs available to local people (remember, we ALL pay for unemployment) and the creation of a large new and accessible country side park. Most other boroughs would think we were mad. As far as I'm concerned our Councillors should be marching in the streets demanding the facility opens tomorrow.Yes to a new stadium and no to new jobs? I like rugby league but it doesn't pay the bills for most St Helens folk, nor does it offer a future to many people who can't see one. I'd urge everyone to get behind these plans before we lose another chance to bring our area into the 21st century.
Rach