SPRING BANK HOLIDAY
MONDAY, May 29 is the Spring Bank Holiday, so Warrington-Worldwide will not be updated that day. But we shall remain on line and the popular Readers’ Forum will continue as usual. We shall resume normal publication on Tuesday, May 30.
Borough to oppose
pop music festival
by David Skentelbery
OPPONENTS of the controversial plan to hold the Creamfields pop festival at Daresbury, near Warrington have received a major boost ? the borough council has decided to lodge a formal objection.
Town Hall chiefs say a technical assessment shows the event is unlikely to comply with the Noise Council’s Code of Practice, with nearby residents able to hear the music beyond 11pm on the night of the concert.
Up to 200 homes could suffer significantly because of noise levels, they say.
In addition, the authority has received representations from residents, who have concerns about noise levels, the potential for congestion, litter, damage to the environment and anti-social behaviour.
Warrington’s objection has now been formally submitted to neighbouring Halton Council which will consider the organisers’ licence application in June.
The Daresbury Estate, the proposed venue, straddles the border of Halton and Warrington Boroughs.
Jan Souness, head of service in Warrington?s chief executive?s unit, said: “Following tests at key locations, our environmental health officers have advised that there will be a significant effect on up to 200 households because of noise levels.”
The council has received representations from Walton, Hatton and Stockton Heath parish councils, all of which have concerns about the proposed concert, as well as complaints from a significant number of individual residents living nearby.
Jan Souness added: “Taking into account the technical findings, we felt there was no alternative but to submit our objections. We will be following these up with a formal presentation at the Licensing Hearing.
“We are pleased that Halton Council has given us their assurance that the licensing hearing will allow for the views of residents to be fully heard and their objections taken into account in reaching their decision on the licence.”
Business chiefs have welcomed the festival, however ? claiming it will provide a ?3.5 million boost to the local economy.
But residents have hit back, arguing that very little, if any, of the money generated by the festival would be spent locally.
Among the headline acts signed up for the event are The Prodigy and Goldfrapp, plus Gnarls Barkley who recently reached number one in the charts on download sales only. Joining them will be Liverpool band The Zutons and the pick of the world?s DJ talent.
Climber on top of
the world – again!
by Terry Johnson
A WARRINGTON climber who sold his home and quit his electronics job to follow a dream has become the first Briton to conquer the world’s highest peak for a second time.
Stuart Peacock,34, from Warrington had to dodge the bullets of guerrilla war fare en route to climbing the daunting North route of Everest.
He led a team to the top including two teenagers Rob Gauntlet and James Hooper, who became the youngest Britons to reach the summit after celebrating their 19th birthdays at base camp. The West Sussex youngsters were completing the challenge to raise money for a cancer charity.
As Stuart gazed across a hugely-beautiful mountain-scape, he reflected that it was a far cry from the time he gained his ‘spurs’ as a five-year-old, scaling the railings of Buckingham Palace!
The former Manchester University engineering degree student from Penketh, Warrington, worked in electronics for several years…before succumbing to his passion for mountaineering.
He left sold his home and left his job to finance his passion for climbing and has since reached new heights in Lakeland and Scotland with Ambleside-based Adventure Peaks.
Stuart first achieved his Everest dream in 2002. But his latest north ridge climb had the added danger of being caught in a perilous gun battle between Maoist guerrillas and the Nepalese Army.
The truck carrying Stuart’s climbing party suddenly moved into crossfire between the battling groups. Everybody jumped out and took cover as the gunfight raged for 45 minutes.
The party then entered Tibet to reach their Everest base camp.
After conquering the north side summit with his two teenage companions, Stuart descended to the top camp at 8,300 metres to e-mail his mum, Mavis, at 3.00a.m.
“He said it was an exhilarating climb. They are all understandably tired, but jubilant”, said Mavis.
Stuart, a former pupil of Penketh High School, Warrington, has now moved to Kendal with fianc?e, Kelly.
Youngsters’ mercy
mission to Gambia
by Lesley Wilkinson
A GROUP of 10 young people from Warrington are busy trying to raise ?19,000 for a trip to the Gambia to work for their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.
The group, called G12, will include two Warrington youth workers, Sarah Tickle and Tracey Lowe, and will leave for the Gambia on August 4.
During their three-week residential challenge the youngsters will help improve life for a community.
One of the youngsters, Kathryn McIlveen said: “It will include many projects such as building a school wall, painting classrooms, cooking and experiencing their culture through music.” Other youngsters joining the trip are Alex Johnson, Amy Jones, Daniel Cheung, Gareth Moore, Katy Quinn, Rebecca Quinn, Tanya Clarke, Laura Myles, and Victoria Butler.
Kathryn said: “While over there we are completing a variety of activities to help build a better community.”
The youngsters have organised a variety of fund raising events including a sponsored bike ride in association with the Royal British Legion in Lymm, which also raised funds for that organisation.
They have applied for grants towards their costs, done car boot sales, bag packs, sold quizzes, car washing, sold cakes and roses on Valentines Day.
Other fundraising events include a sponsored walk, non-uniform days at schools, making and selling personalised mugs and a litter pick.
Kathryn said: “We have got supplies of pencils, pens and some paper to take over to Gambia and give to the school and orphaned children.”
Sarah said the group still needs to raise funds and anyone interesting in supporting them should contact her on 01925 443883.
Students go on tour
BUSINESS students from Priestley College, Warrington, became tour operators for a day when they organised a trip to Blackpool.
As part of their studies, six had to be responsible for all aspects of the outing including planning, costings and marketing the trip to their peers.
Organising the trip gave students an insight into teamworking, risk assessment, financial and contingency planning as well as liaising with college staff and external organisations.
Student James Eadon said: “Overall I think organising the trip gave us a realistic view of what it takes to manage an event such as this.”
Another student Nick Barlow said: “Some interesting lessons were learnt along the way including how to respond when things go wrong, in our case when entry fees for certain attractions differed from what we had previously planned for.”
School goes into
the movie business
by Mark Hemmings
ITS “lights, camera, action” as Penketh Specialist Media and Visual Arts School, Warrington, enter the early stages of becoming one of the first schools in the country to produce a full-length feature film.
The movie entitled ?Days? has been specially written in-house and is about to begin a seven-month shoot, ready for release by next Easter.
Siobhan Glynn from Penketh High School said: “The film tells the story of jealousy, rivalry, bullying and crime with a strong football sub-plot for good measure. Most of the film will shot around the
school but several other locations have been approved. An important scene will be shot at Manchester City’s stadium just before a match day kick off.
“Apart from the obvious pleasure and excitement of being part of a film, the primary aim of the project is to teach hands-on media skills. This will give pupils a means of enhancing their CV’s and providing potential avenues into further education and careers in the creative media sector.
?What is certain is that this will be an experience that will stay with them for the rest of their ‘Days!’?
Probus settles
in new home
by staff reporter
CULCHETH Probus Club has moved into a new home ? and is looking for new members.
The club is now meeting every second and fourth Wednesday at Culcheth Sports Club on Charnock Road between 10 am and 12 noon.
Retirement can come too early for many people who want to remain active.
Probus Clubs are organisations for men and women who have retired from their profession or business and want to maintain a social network with others.
President of the Culcheth branch, Barrie Gray said: “By meeting regularly to enjoy good fellowship with those who have similar interests, be it social events or interesting talks on a wide range of subjects presented by professional speakers, members join more than 300,000 other people in approximately 4,000 Probus clubs worldwide.”
More information is available from Barrie on 01925 763785.
Home extension
appeal refused
by John Hendon
A RESIDENT of Portola Close, Grappenhall, near Warrington has lost an appeal against the borough council?s decision to refuse permission for a first floor extension over his garage.
An inspector who considered the appeal decided the extension would effectively join two properties currently only connected by a single-storey garage.
He believed it would be visually dominant within the street scene and an incongruous feature which, if repeated by other occupiers, would harm the character and appearance of the area.
