Today we have the visit of Prince Edward to officially open the new YouthZone in Blackburn Town Centre. I will be there for the opening. This was the brainchild of the previous administration when we shared control of the Council with the Conservatives. See what they have to offer here

We have been having problems with street lighting up at Bull Hill for sometime now. One section was fixed a few weeks ago but the bottom section is still out of action. It seesm this is being caused by old electricity cable that have deteriorated. Workmen should be on site later this week (wb 6 Feb) to fix the problem.

The first serious snowfalls of the winter hit Darwen this afternoon. Drove down to the Library Theatre this evening for the Mayor’s Command Performance, but because of the bad weather it was posponed. On the way back up Bolton Rd cars were sliding. This weather brings out the best and worst of people. Some car drivers were impatient and dangerously overtaking or overtaking on the inside. It was good to see a small group of youngsters who were out in the snow helping to push slipping cars to get them up the hill. Well done lads !

I was up at Darwen Tower in sub zero temperatures to watch our two Lib Dem Mayors, Cllr Karimeh Foster (Blackburn with Darwen) and Paul Browne (Darwen Town Mayor) open the newly installed dome on top of Darwen Tower. The old one was blown down in gales in 2010 and thanks to WEC Engineering, a local Darwen company a new was installed last month.
A crowd of approx 30 people braved the cold to watch the opening and take in the magnificent views from the Tower.

I was up at Bull Hill watching work being done to improve the drainage at Bull Hill. This is a result of our campaign to solve the problem of water draining across the A666 at Bull Hill and causing some flooding and also a dangerous road when it freezes. The Council are doing some short term work to improve the drainage and then looking longer term at diverting the water before it reaches the A666.

Attended the Mayor’s Command Performance last Saturday.

A great showcase for local talent and hosted as usual by Donald Banks.  Donald was on good form and all the performers gave their time free in aid of the Mayor’s Charity (Lancashire Air Ambulance and The Heart Foundation)

I attended the funeral of Bryan Thompson today.  I have known Bryan for a number of years through his work in the British Legion.  He served the Legion well and we enjoyed many good social events through the Legion with Bryan.  He was a stalwart of the Darwen branch and helped with the Remembrance Day Services and the annual Poppy Appeal.

It was good to see St. Luke’s Church so full and showed how well respected Bryan was.

I attended the funeral of Jack Fairless on Monday.  He was a Labour Councillor in Blackburn for many years and I served him on a number of committees.  Jack was passionate about education, having had a career in teaching and teacher education and was also Chair of governors at Witton Park High School, where I started my teaching career.

Jack was one of nature’s gentlemen and he will be sadly missed.  It was good to see such a good attendance at hi funeral.

The bridge over the River Darwen at the bottom of Watery Lane is being replaced.

The work is due to finish on 26 April 2011

I attended a packed meeting at Darwen Library heard proposals to reduce opening hours as part of the Council’s cuts.

The proposal was for the following

Monday 10 -7

Tuesday 10 -1

Wednesday 10 – 5

Thursday 1 – 5

Friday 10 – 5

Saturday 10 – 4

The people at the meeting expressed strong support for the library and it was suggested that a Friends of Darwen Library be formed to help support the Library. Concerns were expressed on the drastic reduction in the book fund for buying new library books and people suggested encouraging people to donate books and make financial donations to buy new books.