Concerns of the Market Traders

Ralph Spours speaks out!
see this article

I share the concerns expressed in this article.

In my view the Stan Laurel museum should never have planned to move to the Heron Glass/Booths location.

I will campaign for the Booths site to be used as an outlet for wares being made by local artisans whose workshops can be visited by the public and tourists. It is appropriate to have a glass-making factory, a pottery, weaving, printmaking or any small craft industry.

The museum is clearly to do with the history of the town and should be in the town where he lived. As Stan is the reason some people come to visit the town, they will want to see the streets and buildings where he grew up. There is little incentive to travel into town if people arrive by coach at Booths.

I agree that Heron Glass needs all the support that we can provide. This needs to be given to provide skilled jobs and and the sale of the ware that these artisans produce. The more successful the sale of what is made the more jobs are provided. The town should promote these wares through an attractive web site not the mess we have now.

This lack of clarity of direction in planning stems in my view from the shortsightedness that is so prevalent amongst the Town Councillors. They are not proactive for the town. What we need is a group of people who will nurture Ulverston and promote forward thinking for our town. They do not need to have more powers to provide good planning for the future. They do need to organise themselves to look after the present and future issues of the town. At the moment they show no initiative and are a waste of space and a little money.

On my travels door to door, I have met no one who has any respect for any of the councillors except for those directly related. This is very harsh as there may be two or three councillors that swimming upstream through what must feel like a quagmire of indifference and self-congratulatory political correctness.

Let's replace most of them as soon as possible with non party politicians who have a background in getting things done in other occupations. We need good thinking and planning ahead.