DARWEN NEWS by Darwen Online: Lancashire News

Forecasters are warning of more heavy snow across the country over the next week or so with the worst of the weather predicted to hit Darwen over Sunday and Monday.

Temperatures are forecast to fall below zero overnight for the rest of February in parts of Lancashire and early predictions say we could see the odd flurry of the white stuff at the beginning of March - so don't pack your children's sledges away in the loft just yet!

Although weather forecasts are sometimes wrong, especially long range ones, early indications show it is likely to start snowing around lunch time on Sunday with showers lasting for approximately 24 hours. We'll just have to wait and see if they are right!

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A major conference is being held to discuss what people want to see in Blackburn with Darwen over the next 20 years.

Council bosses and partners say the long-term "Vision 2030" is essential to help them shape the borough's future.

Over the last nine months hundreds of local people have been part of the research and consultation that has gone into Vision 2030.

Local people involved have been invited to take part in the important conference to give them another opportunity to have a hand in the final Vision.

The Vision has four key themes which will provide a focus to help identify priorities over the next 20 years, including: prosperous towns; safe, healthy towns; clean towns and connecting communities.

The conference, at King Georges Hall, Blackburn, will be held on Friday, February 12, and opened by the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, Cllr James Hirst.

It will feature:

* An introduction to Vision 2030 from chair of Blackburn with Darwen Strategic Partnership Mike Murray
* A keynote speech from the Rt. Hon. Jack Straw M.P. on the future national and international challenges for
Blackburn with Darwen
* Presentation of key findings from consultation on Vision 2030 and the draft Vision
* A chance to record comments on the draft Vision in workshop sessions

Mike Murray, chair of Blackburn with Darwen Strategic Partnership, said: "The conference is a way of making sure voices are heard to shape the future of our borough.

"Vision 2030 is an exciting and ambitious project that has sought to engage with the public in different ways.

"We have already had some interesting debates and want to encourage more feedback at the conference to help influence the final Vision document."

For more information on Vision 2030 or to get involved in the online debates go to:
http://vision2030.bwd.public-i.tv/viewfinder_core/

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Free parking is available for shoppers on the College car parks throughout August.

As the car parks off St Paul’s Street and Feilden Street are not being used to their full capacity throughout August, the College and Blackburn with Darwen Council have agreed that shoppers and visitors can take advantage of the spaces available.

There will be no cost and motorists have been assured that they will not be clamped as long as they park properly within the marked bays.

The college car parks have always been free on Saturdays for shoppers and visitors to use.

Normally clamping will apply during the week from September when the College reopens.

Councillor Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration and environment, said: “This is a temporary solution to the current car parking issues in the town centre which businesses have raised. The college gesture is also a piece of a bigger jigsaw we are working on. Work is already underway on the Feilden Street car park which is due to be completed by Christmas.”

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Big Cover Wood, Witton Park's new adventure play ground was officially opened yesterday.

Councillor Michael Law-Riding, executive member for leisure and culture and play champion for the borough cut the ceremonial ribbon for the lottery funded play area.

The £77,000 project was designed by Groundwork Pennine Lancashire and coordinated by the Council.

The play area features unique Wild life sculptures, a giant wooden xylophone, a Billy Goats Gruff themed bridge and other challenging and exciting play equipment pieces.

There is also a picnic and storytelling area all in a woodland setting.

Councillor Law-Riding said: "This is a fantastic new play space in a scenic and peaceful spot.

"Not only is this another great resource for youngsters in the borough but an added reason to visit Witton Park, one of the jewels in the borough's crown."

The day also saw the young and the young at heart come together to celebrate nation Playday.

This is the third year the borough has celebrated National Playday and this year's theme is Alice in Wonderland and making time for children.

Blackburn with Darwen hosted two events. One at Witton Park and the other at the Borough Road field in Darwen opposite Bold Venture Park.

There was plenty of free activities on offer including a climbing wall, arts and crafts, sports, a DJ workshop, face painting, an obstacle course and a tug of war.

Visitors to Witton Park also had the chance to have their say in the consultation for the new half a million Adventure Play Park being developed at the park as part of the Play Pathfinder project.

The play facilities will be thanks to a share of the £2.5 million investment in play across Blackburn with Darwen, from the Government’s Play Pathfinder programme.

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Budding young filmmakers are helping to raise awareness of internet safety for children.

Year 6 children from St Mary and St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Blackburn have scooped first and second prize in the Safety Competition 2009 to raise awareness of Safer Internet Day.

Primary and secondary schools pupils were asked to write a plan for a short film to help other young people use the internet safely.

The three minute films at the school in Bennington Street were designed during ICT lessons with support from teachers and the winning children then went on to make their films under the guidance of James Hardy, the Blackburn with Darwen City Learning Centre (CLC) manager.

First prize winners received a Dell mini laptop each, provided by North West Learning Grid to help raise awareness of Safer Internet Day.

Second prize winners received an Asus mini laptop donated by Blackburn with Darwen E-learning service.

The children were presented with their prizes by the head of service Ann Bennett during a special assembly where the films had their first public viewing in front of the whole school.

The completed films will soon be available to watch on the Blackburn with Darwen learning platform, at www.learningbwd.org.uk.

The learning platform is an online environment containing a collection of tools that allows users to communicate, collaborate and share ideas and resources. All school staff and pupils have access to it.

All schools in Blackburn and Darwen now have e-safety policies, and extra e-safety training will be offered in schools across the borough from September.

Two of the first ever e-safety Ofsted inspections were carried out at St Edward’s RC Primary School in Darwen and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour RC Primary in Blackburn recently, and both schools were praised by inspectors for their internet safety measures.

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On Wednesday, August 5, Blackburn with Darwen is celebrating national Playday.

Right across the country events will be taking place in this annual celebration of childrens’ right to play.

Blackburn with Darwen is hosting two events. One at Witton Park and the other at the Borough Road field in Darwen opposite Bold Venture Park, from 1.30pm until 4pm.

This is the third year the borough has celebrated national Play Day and this year's theme is Alice in Wonderland and making time for children.

Everyone from parents to carers, teachers to policy makers, are being urged to make time for play.

Councillor Michael Law-Riding, executive member for leisure and culture and play champion for the borough said: "Play is an important part of growing up and it gives children the freedom to be just that children.

"We have something for everyone on offer this Playday and its all free so I would encourage everyone to at least for one day make time for play."

In Darwen there will be plenty of free activities including a climbing wall, arts and crafts, sports and a DJ workshop.

Younger children can enjoy a puppet theatre, story time, face painting and much much more.

And families are invited come along before hand with a picnic to make it a real day out.

At Witton Park the free activities on offer include outdoor games, arts and crafts, an obstacle course, tug of war, a nature trail, beat the goalie and a bouncy castle.

The day will also see the grand opening of Witton Park’s new lottery funded play area, Big Cover Wood at 2pm.

The Big Cover Wood play area is a £77,000 lottery funded project that combines wildlife sculptures, an adventure playground, a picnic and storytelling area all in a woodland setting.

And from 1-4pm there will also be free sports coaching by athletes, Katherine Merry and Les Antoine as part of the Street Athletics project.

Visitors can also have their say in the consultation for the new half a million Adventure Play Park being developed at Witton Park as part of the Play pathfinder project.

The play facilities will be thanks to a share of the £2.5 million investment in play across Blackburn with Darwen, from the Government’s Play Pathfinder programme.

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Help support Turton Tower by joining in one of the two events being held over the next 6 months. First, Friends of Turton Tower are trying to encourage people to visit the site over the school holidays:

Pack up your teddy and come down to Turton Tower where a teddy bears’ picnic is being held on Wednesday, August 5.

Bring your bear and enjoy a fun bear themed story, a tasty picnic and a mystery bear trail around the historic house.

Booking is required for this event that is suitable for pre-school and year 1 children with an accompanying adult.

Two sessions are arranged. The first will run from midday until 2pm and the second 3-5pm.

Tickets are £5.50 per person, which includes picnic, storytelling and bear trail.

There will be an indoor ‘carpet picnic’ if it’s wet weather.

And Turton Tower is now open everyday throughout the summer holidays.

The tower will be open everyday until 31 August with the tea room opening at 10.30am until 5pm and the tower opening midday until 5pm.

Councillor Michael Law-Riding, executive member for Leisure and Culture, said: “Now the summer holidays are getting underway it is a great time to visit Turton Tower.

“The Grade I listed building set in beautiful grounds makes for a fun and educational family day out. “

For more information telephone (01204 852203) or visit www.blackburn.gov.uk/turtontower

In addition, November will see a special Jazz, Swing & Funk night featuring the Northern Jazz Orchestra.

Tickets, priced at £10 are available in advance from:

Turton Towers, Chapeltown Road,
Turton, BL7 0HG
Tel: 01204 852203

Chetham Arms, 83 High Street, Chapeltown
Turton, BL7 0EW
Tel: 01204 852279
www.thechetham.co.uk

Slaters Inkshop, 5 Bolton Road
Darwen, BB3 1DF
Tel: 01254 777829
www.slaters-inkshop.co.uk

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A pioneering pilot scheme to boost the long-term outcomes of children in care is being launched in Blackburn with Darwen.

One of the borough’s children’s homes will welcome two social pedagogues – specially trained children’s specialists who work with and support the children and their all-round development – in September.

The experts from Germany are currently being recruited to start in their roles. In January the pilot home was judged to be outstanding in every area by Ofsted.

This is the first full-scale research on this issue by the government and is part of a pilot by The Department for Children, Schools and Families for eight children’s homes in the country as part of the Care Matters agenda, which aims to improve the lives of children in care.

The children’s home, which cannot be named, was selected from a huge number of interested local authorities to take part in the pilot.

It aims to see if the scheme improves outcomes for children in residential care homes.

The title social pedagogue, which roughly translates as a teacher or instructor, describes the work done by youth and residential workers. They use creative and practical skills with groups and on an individual basis to support children.

Social pedagogues are well known in Europe and are often trained to graduate level but it is relatively new in the UK.

By encouraging young people in residential care to take what might seem small steps - such as developing a routine to get out of bed and go to school - the social pedagogue can help them to make great strides in terms of developing life skills.

Gladys Rhodes, deputy director of children’s services, said: “There has never been a full government supported scheme on this scale into the work done by social pedagogues before and we are hoping that this approach will help us even further in improving outcomes for children in residential care in Blackburn with Darwen.

“We are really pleased that Blackburn with Darwen has been chosen to pilot this extremely successful way of delivering residential care which is established in other parts of Europe and has proved very beneficial for children.”

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Ten-year-old Natalie Heaney was guest of honour when ownership of Turton Tower officially transferred to Blackburn with Darwen Council, from North Turton Parish Council.

Natalie, who lives in Bromley Cross, wrote to HRH Prince Charles asking for his help when she learned the tower was in danger of closing due to a lack of money to pay for the running costs.
Turton Tower and its grounds on Chapeltown Road, Turton, were, until recently owned by North Turton Parish Council with Lancashire County Council managing the Grade 1 listed building as a museum.

John Grove, chair of the Friends of Turton Tower said: “We are delighted that the future of the tower has been secured after a long period of uncertainty. Our discussions with officers and councillors have been most productive and lead us to believe that we are able to look forward to helping to improve facilities and develop activities at the tower.”

Daniel Wild, chair of the parish council: “The Parish Council is happy that Turton Tower finally has a secure future. We are confident that Blackburn with Darwen Council will prove to be an excellent custodian."

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Littering is still a problem in Blackburn and Darwen, and the problem isn't just confined to people disposing of empty crisp packets, drinks cans or cigarette buts while out and about.

It has been reported that some people have left household waste in back alleys across the town including Christmas trees, sofas, electrical items and car tyres. These items are probably dumped in the hope that the council will eventually remove the rubbish at no expense to their original owners.

However, a Blackburn man is today counting the cost of leaving rubbish in a back alley.

Mohammed Patel of Walter Street, Blackburn, failed to appear at Blackburn magistrates court on Friday (January 16). He was convicted in his absence of failing to comply with a section 46 notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, requiring him dispose of rubbish correctly in the bin.

Patel was fined £350 with £377 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. The case was brought by Blackburn with Darwen Council after the offence in October.

A reminder that people are made to pay for their irresponsible actions when caught.

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A search to find the Northwest's greenest business has been launched by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Mersey Basin Campaign.

They want businesses from across the region to nominate themselves for the 2009 Northwest Business Environment Awards. Entries must be received before February 2, 2009

Nominations can be for one or more award categories including: Best Environmental Practice, Built Environment, Sustainable Procurement, Environmental Innovation and Environmental Champions.

The awards ceremony will be held in June 2009 and the chief executive of the hosts said "This year we are looking forward to congratulating the people who make the Northwest a national leader in sustainable business".

If you are interested in entering your business please visit www.merseybasin.org.uk.

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The Highways Agency will be deploying a fleet of new gritters this winter to help combat winter weather on the countries roads and motorways.

The new vehicles will eventually replace the old yellow 'gritters' with a £45 million investment to help battle snow & ice. The news comes after a report warned that 50% of people would still travel despite severe weather warnings.

The introduction of the new fleet represents a move towards using pre-wet salt and onboard state of the art monitoring technology. The pre-wet salt is more friendly to other vehicles, is less affected by wind and gets to work faster on roads to prevent ice formation.

159 of the vehicles were launched today (Monday 10 November) and with the North West amongst the areas to receive the new vehicles first it might not be too long before you see one of them on th M65. In total 438 new gritters will be in use throughout the country by 2010.

Meanwhile The Weather Outlook's Christmas forecast has suggested there is an increased chance of a White Christmas for northern regions of the UK with upto a 50% chance in some areas. Their Christmas weather forecast is updated regularly so be sure to check their website for up to date information:

The Weather Outlook

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A statue of Manchester born comedian Les Dawson is to be unveiled by his widow in St Annes on Thursday night.

The comic, famed for his role in popular TV shows Opportunity Knocks and Blankety Blank, died in June 1993 aged just 62 after suffering a heart attack whilst in hospital.

Fellow comedians voted Les Dawson as one of the best 50 comedy acts ever in a 2005 poll and he will forever be remembered for his facial expressions whilst on television. Whether he was hosting a game show or performing a comedy sketch dressed as an elderly lady he could always make people laugh.

He lived with his second wife in Lytham, St Annes for many years before his death. The statue will now be unveiled in a floodlit ceremony next to St Annes pier.

Les Dawson (1931-1993)

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A rare blue lobster has been saved from the kitchen and is now being transferred to a Blackpool aquarium. The lobster was caught off the coast of the Isle of Man and deemed too unusual to go to market with the rest of the catch.

Instead it will now continue it's life in Blackpool's Sea Life Centre where staff are already hoping the creature will mate with the existing female lobster.

Displays supervisor Carey Duckhouse told the BBC: "If we were lucky enough to rear some of those off-spring to maturity it would be really interesting to see what colour they were."

Full Story: BBC News

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