[Stevil]

I'd like to think we still live in a society where even billionaires are accountable to the community.

But we don't. The rich constantly get away with things that the rest of us cannot. It is helped by many people seeing nothing wrong with this happening and dreaming that they can do it one day. It's sad really.

Personally I'd like a society where there are no billionaires.

[Riversider]

I'd like to think our councillors have carefully read, scrutinised and understood all the contracts agreements and plans involved in the Tithebarn scheme, before they signed up to them.

I'd also like to think our Europe minister had read the Lisbon Treaty, before she started telling everyone how good it was.

Unfortunately in the latter case, I know she hasn't...

[El Toro]

The fundemental basis of a democratic society is whereby the people are asked opinions on matters that will hugely change their lives............This government has agreed and surrepticiously pushed for a soviet style plan for the whole of Europe....A complete overhaul of running a government has to be thought out!

Be safe!

[JanetB138]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Fury-at-neighbou...inst.5138549.jp


A furious row has erupted after senior figures in Blackburn contacted local authorities across the North West urging them to object to Preston's Tithebarn project.
In a letter to councils and chambers of trade, Blackburn Council and the town's Chamber of Trade urge other local authorities to make formal objections to the £700m scheme.

They even enclosed a "model letter" addressed to Preston's development director objecting to the scheme.

[JanetB138]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/AntiTithebarn-mo...egal.5149374.jp

Town Hall chiefs in Preston have asked legal experts to examine whether attempts by Blackburn to "generate objections" to the city's Tithebarn rebirth are unlawful.
Advisors to the city's civic bosses will investigate whether any action can be taken after the president of Blackburn's Chamber of Trade and the regeneration boss at the town's council distributed a letter urging others to object to the £700m project.

[Mr Fell]

Whatever next ??!!

[Stevil]

Whatever next ??!!

This!
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Tithebarn-giants...sses.5176970.jp

The Grosvenor Group - the property giant behind Preston's long-delayed Tithebarn revamp - has seen £500m wiped from its value.

and this!
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/New-doubts-over-...ment.5175422.jp

Preston's £700m regeneration is facing "uncertainty" because of a looming £800,000 public inquiry, it was revealed today.

[Bing Bong]

Not surprising all of this. I bet the whole thing goes down the pan.

[Riversider]

This would be a catastrophic blow for Preston, the consequence of not listening to local people over the bus station and other issues, of allowing a billionaire developer to dictate at every stage, and of putting all our development eggs in just one highly risky basket, and stopping anything else happening for a decade, meaning a whole decade of missed opportunities.

I'm hoping that I still don't have to say 'I told you so', but it's certainly not looking good.

[Mr Fell]

Yep Riversider - its the truth alright and there is every sign that all this is not going to get off the ground at all. Long ago I had a very strong feeling that all this was pie in the sky anyway.

It means however that if all this is scuppered than one day we might get something that is a bit more realisic and is informed more by those that live and work in the town.

[JanetB138]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Tithebarn-giants...-losses.5176970.



The Grosvenor Group - the property giant behind Preston's long-delayed Tithebarn revamp - has seen £500m wiped from its value.
Grosvenor - which owns the Liverpool One shopping centre - reported pre-tax losses of £593.9 million last year against profits of £524 million in 2007.

[andrewlya]

What is supposed date of the commence of the Tithebarn project?

[Mr Fell]

It`s supposed to be underway next year sometime ?

[andrewlya]

Hopefully, all the objections that have been put forward by Blackpool and Blackburn will be side-stepped and the project will go ahead!

God,please help us!

This post has been edited by andrewlya: 07 May 2009 - 01:04 PM

[johnr]

God,please help us!

god? who he then? is he on the vision board?

oh, sorry, my mistake, the vision board is made up of people who exist outside the imaginations of those afflicted with religion.

[Riversider]

The front page of today's LEP suggests that Tithebarn could be linked to the possible LOSS of 2000 civil service jobs from Preston.

The whole scheme is looking less and less well thought through, and the delays it is suffering are causing more and more damage to Preston - this is the problem with high handed secretive 'top down' planning - keeping ordinary people out of the decision making seems like a shortcut, in reality it ends up costing far far more.

[johnr]

The front page of today's LEP suggests that Tithebarn could be linked to the possible LOSS of 2000 civil service jobs from Preston.

The whole scheme is looking less and less well thought through, and the delays it is suffering are causing more and more damage to Preston - this is the problem with high handed secretive 'top down' planning - keeping ordinary people out of the decision making seems like a shortcut, in reality it ends up costing far far more.

i believe ive said pretty much that myself. duchy house, paletine house and the guild cantre are all civil service buildings and are going, add into this the disruption to red rose house and elizabeth house and unicentre and i think that 2000 jobs may well be broadly correct. but iirc when i posted that the scheme didnt take into account where all these people would go when tithebarn started, the defenders of the scheme, (who all seem very quiet these days dont you think) were quick to point out that everything has been thought out, and nobody would be losing their jobs, and besides, there would be plenty of well paid(sic) shop jobs for them when it was all done. i'll be watching to see what comments, if any are posted by tithebarns fans in th light of this story. no doubt they will again tell us that this has alweays been the plan, and it will all be well.

[Riversider]

You did post earlier on exactly that point Johnr, right back in October 2008. Your words have been shown to be an all too precise description of what could soon happen, apart from actually being an UNDERESTIMATION of the number of jobs that might be lost - you suggested 800, while the unions are now saying it could be as many as 2000.

2000 lost jobs is pretty comparable to the number of 'new' jobs that Tithebarn advocates claim it will 'create' (though in reality these will largely be low paid retail jobs 'sucked in' at the expense of other parts of Lancashire, and even other parts of Preston).

These 2000 civil servants are currently keeping Preston City Centre alive, though it's really on basic life support at the moment, with more shops closing every few weeks. If these jobs go, who will be shopping in the City Centre - apart from the shop workers themselves?

It's really interesting to go back through our discussions on this, and other topics, to see whose comments were 'on the money' and whose regurgitation of the official establishment line now looks like a thin tissue of spin.

If people like you and me could spot these flaws in the scheme, why couldn't our councillors and the Vision Board? We can only speculate on whether it was blind optimism that distorted their perceptions.

[Bing Bong]

What an unmittigated disaster.

[Accura]

Parallel to Tithebarn, the new CBD proposed for the area in between Lawson Street and Corporation Street will more than replace any office accommodation lost in Tithebarn. Lets face it, Guild Centre, Unicentre, and POC are all outdated and ugly, as well as offering accommodation that firms are becoming increasingly unwilling to occupy. What Preston needs is up to date A-Grade office accommodation. The tower blocks of the 60's simply don't fulfill these requirements. The new complex proposed by the government in Manchester is an example of how the civil service is changing.