Nicola Bulley family given voice in documentary
Plus: vegetable warning and Lancs restaurant among world's best
Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Lancashire Lead. Like with many a good meal, we start with vegetables - we’re all used to be having to wash veg before cooking it, but what if it’s food you’ve grown in your own garden that is at risk from a banned chemical?
That’s exactly what’s happening in Thornton Cleveleys, where residents have been told the carcinogenic “forever chemical” PFOA has potentially contaminated soil in the area. The Guardian and Watershed Investigations report that the AGC Chemicals plant has discharged hundreds of checmicals into the River Wyre, which flows into Morecambe Bay, “including very high concentrations of the banned PFOA”.
The Environment Agency, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Wyre council have launched an investigation into the site. AGC says PFOA recently detected in the effluent being discharged from its site would be related to historical pollution and that it had not used PFOA since 2012.
You can read the full story here.
The family of Nicola Bulley will be on TV screens next week as they discuss not only their beloved lost family member but also the damaging impact of the media and social media coverage.
The Search For Nicola Bulley will air on BBC One next Thursday (October 3), with Nicola’s family explaining they had decided to take part “with the sole aim to provide the definitive record on Nikki to ensure she has the legacy that she deserves”. Director Rachel Lob-levyt said:
"We had a viewing with the family. It was difficult - obviously emotional for them. They feel the documentary really honours their experience, and honours Nikki.
"At the time she went missing, Paul was subject to a really difficult level of scrutiny. The idea of putting himself back in the public eye is nerve-racking but ultimately, he thought it the right thing to do."
Plans to build new hospitals in Preston and Lancaster remain in the pipeline but still face fresh assessments. Since the General Election, the government has now exempted 12 schemes from proposed “40 new hospitals” promised by the previous Conservative administration.
The local democracy service reports he two Lancashire sites are not among these ones to be ruled out and will therefore be reviewed to determine their deliverability. The DHSC has said the work will be completed “as soon as possible”.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said of the nationwide New Hospitals Programme (NHP) for 40 new builds by 2030 that it was “not deliverable in that timeframe” – and that a “realistic” and “costed” timeline was needed. The previous government had already pushed the timetable for the Lancashire projects back to the mid-2030s – but they have nevertheless still formed part of the Labour-ordered review.
Some positive news to report now courtesy of one of the county’s biggest culinary success stories.
The Michelin-starred Northcote, in Langho, has been named as the third best fine dine restaurant in the entire world in the Tripadvisor's 2024 Travellers' Choice Best of the Best Restaurants awards.
The rankings are based on reviews and opinions from Tripadvisor users over the past 12 months, with Travellers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best title given to fewer than 1% of the 8 million listings.
Restaurant Pic in France claimed the top spot, with Colombia’s Restaurante 1621 in second place. The next UK-based ranking was 16th-placed The Old Stamp House in Cumbria. Of Northcote, Tripadvisor says:
Be prepared to take in stunning garden and hill views when visiting Northcote Restaurant in the Ribble Valley. Not to be outdone by the scenery, the tasting menu shines, pairing perfectly with local cocktails. A full menu of vibrant dishes, including dessert (highly recommended), served by attentive staff rounds out the elegant experience.
The Blackpool Lead will arrive in inboxes tomorrow so make sure you’re signed up to receive it directly and before anyone else. Already published on the site this week are positive news for the town’s council-owned Houndshill Shopping Centre; jail time for one of the ringleader’s of August’s riots, and claims a £2m CCTV system prevented that disorder from becoming “catastrophic”.
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By Paul Faulkner, Local Democracy Reporter
The leader of Fylde Council says Lancashire’s devolution deal will help high-tech manufacturing businesses in the borough find the skilled workers they need from within the local population.
Karen Buckley was responding to the announcement last week that the government had signed off on an agreement that will bring more powers and cash to the county.
Amongst the most significant areas of responsibility to be devolved to Lancashire is control over the adult education budget. Starting in 2026/27, the new combined county authority (CCA) – shortly being established to implement the deal – will oversee the kind of courses on offer to adults aged 19 and over. Cllr Buckley said:
“We have long-established advanced manufacturing industries in Fylde that rely on a highly skilled workforce, so I am particularly interested to have an influence on the plans for adult education and skills to ensure opportunities are maximised for these businesses to thrive.”
Fylde Council was amongst the three Conservative-run district authorities in Lancashire to have written to the new Labour government over the summer to call for implementation of the ‘level 2’ deal provisionally agreed with the previous Tory administration.
It followed pressure from Labour and coalition-controlled districts for ministers to rethink that plan and pursue “a more ambitious” ‘level 3’ agreement. That would have meant the creation of an elected mayor for Lancashire – an idea to which Fylde has long been opposed.
Back in 2017, under a former leader, the borough withdrew from a shadow combined authority – which had been established the previous year in an attempt to put the county on the road to a devolution – because it felt there was not enough to be gained from a deal.
However, Cllr Buckley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she welcomed the arrival of devolution in Lancashire. She added that the district authorities now had a responsibility to make the current deal work for their residents – even though they were not involved in drawing it up and will not have any voting rights on the CCA.
“Whilst the deal is modest, it is a significant first step to bring decision-making on key areas such as adult education, skills and transport, closer to the communities that are affected by those decisions.
“The deal may have been struck with the three upper tier authorities of Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool, but there is a clearly stated willingness to engage with the districts – and it is up to us as district leaders to get the very best out of combined authority working for the betterment of our areas, which is what I intend to do,” said Cllr Buckley, who also acknowledged that Lancashire devolution had been “a long time coming”.
The districts will have two representatives on the CCA, sitting as ‘non-constituent members’, and they will also have places on the committees set up to scrutinise the work of the new body.
🙏 Morecambe MP Lizzi Collinge has written to National Highways asking them to make a major M6 junction safer after a fatal crash (Lancaster Guardian).
🏥 A nurse from Chorley who wrote sick stories and shared images of child abuse has been struck off for life (LancsLive).
🚧 The lead contractor on the controversial Wilson Sports Village construction project in Hyndburn has entered administration (Lancashire Telegraph).
🚑 An employee of a Preston-based business was rushed to hospital after being run over by a forklift (Blog Preston).
🎆 Residents in one Blackburn neighbourhood said they are ‘scared to leave their homes’ due to the number of fireworks being let off (Lancashire Telegraph).
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