10 10November November2021 2021
Council to act on threat to coastline
INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Olivia with TV presenter, Matt Baker at Clatterbridge Hospital during the Great Rickshaw Relay Challenge for Children In Need.
Olivia helps TV presenter complete Children In Need Rickshaw Relay Challenge AN inspirational teenager from Southport was cheered on by crowds as she completed her lap of The Great Rickshaw Relay Challenge for BBC Children In Need! Olivia Ruston, 17, set off from her old school, Churchtown Primary, on Wednesday, November 3 and ended 30 miles away at the Clatterbridge Hospital in Bebington in Wirral. As Olivia pedalled away at the start of the challenge, accompanied by BBC TV presenter Matt Baker and a police escort, she was waved off by pupils and staff at the school. This year’s Rickshaw Challenge was carried out in five stages, beginning in Bristol before heading to Manchester, Southport, Ulverston in Cumbria and then Edinburgh. Continued on p5
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Vol 28 • Issue 45
Olivia Ruston
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It's Christmas! FESTIVE FEATURE INSIDE
END OF LINE FOR CURVES Report by Henry James
CAMPAIGNERS behind proposals to reopen the Burscough Curves have pledged not to give up the fight after their scheme was not included among the winners of the government’s Restoring Your Railway funding programme. In March the Champion reported how Lancashire County Council, along with MPs Damien Moore and Rosie Cooper, was supporting a bid to the Department for Transport to push the business case for the Burscough Curves. The scheme was led by the Ormskirk, Preston and Southport Travellers’ Association (OPSTA), a rail user group that campaigns for improvements to the area’s railways. If the Burscough Curves were reintroduced it would reconnect the Southport to Manchester line with the Preston to Ormskirk-Liverpool lines. This would open up two new rail routes for south and west Lancashire and campaigners believe the better links between railway stations in Southport and Lancashire would provide economic benefits. The Curves were closed after the infamous Beeching cuts, in the 1960s. As part of the Restoring Your Railway programme 13 projects have been awar-
...but campaigners vow to fight on after rail hopes dashed
The Burscough Curves railway line
ded up to £50,000 each to progress their plans to reinstate stations and restore lines. Following the announcement that the Burscough Curves bid had not been successful, the chair of OPSTA Alan Fantom said: “OPSTA has provided full comments to the sponsoring MPs and Lancashire County Council on the evaluation report from the Department for Transport (DfT). “When the opening statement of the evaluation feedback reads, ‘The proposal makes a strong case for the intervention’
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for social and economic reasons and ‘a strong transport case with the area suffering from poor connectivity, congestion and air quality issues’ it is very disappointing and hard to understand why the scheme is deemed unsuitable for the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. “If the DfT had simply said our submission had not made the cut of 13 approved schemes then we would have to accept the decision but the marked inconsistencies with the evaluation critique of our initial bid in an earlier round of funding applications is deeply concerning as it contains a number of unfounded comments that seem quite subjective. For example the feedback states the projected journey times by rail ‘seem optimistic’ when they compare with the existing service schedules between Southport and Burscough, and Burscough and Preston thus questioning our modelling of passenger take-up. “It also queries the backing of the Liverpool City Region when it has been stated by the Combined Authority (Merseytravel) and reinstatement of the south curve is in their long term rail strategy. “It is worth noting that this bid simply sought £50k to support further feasibility work and preparation of a formal business case. With the majority of funding for this next stage committed to by Lancashire County Council, the greater significance is the lack of backing from central government and DfT. Continued inside
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