I’m pleased to hear through the Lancashire Evening Post about the Tithebarn Project getting the go-ahead from the Government, although it has not yet been officially confirmed.

I like all the other cabbies, know too well that our city centre is in need of new investment.

Currently the area of the Tithebarn is in a mess with rundown buildings and poorly planned road & pathways, not to mention the lack of leisure facilities like cinemas & cafes.

An example of the poor path and road system there… the main daytime ranks in the centre of Preston all lay on the right-hand side of the road (if facing in the direction of the flow of the traffic) and the majority of cabs have their ramps on the nearside (the left or passenger side) of the vehicle. This means that any wheelchair users wishing to board a cab have to cross over the road, as does the taxi, in order to allow ramp access.

Granted the area has been like that long before the current models of cabs were even designed, but nevertheless, it’s still a shambles.

Then there’s the bus station. Some folk love it, some hate it. I personally have little interaction with it, so maybe it’s a little unfair for me to talk about its uses, but one thing is for sure and that is that it’s one ugly building.

Preston really needs this development, & when I first learned of the objections to Tithebarn by Jack Straw and the other cobble walking hill dwellers from Blackburn, I was angry.

They didn’t want Preston to improve; they tried to deprive mine and your kids a nicer city with more to do in it.

Same goes to those from the seaside, they objected to Tithebarn, yet Preston supported their bid to be the home of the Super Casino. Talk about being stabbed in the back.

Well all I can say is this… if I ever see Jack Straw in Preston with his hand out hailing my cab, I’ll tell him to sling his hook & to ring for a horse and cart from Blackburn, being as he seems to like living in the past.

Hopefully the horse will eat him.

(Get it? Straw and horse food? Ah, I’ll get my coat.)