Re: East Lancashire decline
 

eh? whats going on now? I am joining in the debate and you suddenly start accusing me of things... ffs :(

who died and put you in charge ?

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

oh for crying out loud :(

well gosh i must have a hidden agenda then eh ?

sod it...............i will leave you to your conspiracy theories.. you and Bob have a nice night eh ........

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

Oh my! Who mentioned conspiracy theories or hidden agendas?

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

or paranoia :)

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

Could we possible do this without conflict........I have had a bad and would like to end the day with nice thoughts in my head.

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

I agree on that one Doug

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

same here.. but what do I do.. acrylic bob seems to want to start it in here.. i tried not to answer him i really did but couldnt let his sudden accusation pass.

there is a possibility that he is sat at his computer with a smile half as big as mine right now but i doubt it hehe

dont be so serious people... its not real life you know :)

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

perhaps if acrylic bob tells us all exactly what i have done to upset him and cause him to have a go i can then apologise.. but until he tells me what i have done wrong i cant make ammends.... :)

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

Hey, just a thought....Is KIPAX & Tealeaf one and the same person.

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

No but I just nudged him and he nearly dropped his drink :)

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

Doug's observation about mismanagement is as valid as any other. There is certainly a wealth of evidence that points to the mismanagement of the economy from the end of the second world war onwards. How much of what happens now can be put down to our mishandling of the end of the Empire? Or may it also be true that the second world war stripped the country to the bone and it is a tribute to British phlegm and determination that we have managed to claw our way back thus far?

The causes of national decline and local decline are many and varied. Theories abound and many academic careers are based on the attempt to understand and interpret them.

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

Surely like a recipe each of the many varied reasons rely on each other to make the final outcome.. it would be impossible to get it down to one reason only or even one set of reasons.... Chaos theory.. the ripple effect and all that

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

An astute observation. It does rather depend on ones individual perspective. Is the glass half full, or is it half empty?

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

A gang of young yobs are causing misery to the lives of pensioners living in sheltered accommodation off fife streetaccrington playing football with a full size footballand some times a rugby ball along with alot of shouting and screaming live in the three bungalows nearest must be hell the middle bungalow suffers the worst the yobs are nearly in there bedroom Some action suppose to be taking place lower down the road but thats no help to these at the top A sign keep off the the grass as disappeared and a request to an hyndburn counciller who lives right across from the trouble spot has met on deaf ears

Re: East Lancashire decline
 

As a product of the industrial revolution, I think that one of the important things to realise about Accrington and District is that the main reason for it's existence is work, of a specific type. In Crewe, for example, the main employer has historically been engineering linked to the expansion of the railways. You could think about Sheffield or Oxford in a similar way. In Accrington, because it was so focussed on it's main source of employment, there was little or nothing to fall back on when it failed. The loss of jobs leads to a loss of income, which in turn leads to less money spent in the local economy. Which in turn leads to a contraction of independent retailing, a stagnant property market and an unattractive investment environment. This is what we have seen throughout the last three decades.

Ok, the property market is begining to catch up with the rest of the country. but how much of that growth is locally generated and how much is fuelled by absentee landlords looking to make a quick profit or a better return than investing in the stock market? From that point of view it does not matter to landlords who uses the property, so long as the money comes in, and the DSS's money is just as good as anyone elses.

Do we see any upturn in wages beyond the basic minimum? Not according to a brief perusal of jobs on offer in the pages of The Observer. If Accrington does not attract high skill/ high wage jobs, then it's future lies in becoming a dormitory town for the larger connurbations that surround it. Perhaps in this light Mr Rix's fixation with attracting tourists begins to make some sort of sense