Digital Newsroom Assessment 2 Article 2

Plans to knock down an 80-year old Poulton-le-Fylde tennis club are set to get underway in order to build a new ‘super health’ centre leaving members and locals far from happy.

St.Chads Tennis club on Vicarage Road is facing an uncertain future after it was revealed that the Primary Care Trust has plans to build the centre on its site. This would leave long term members with the task of finding somewhere else to participate in the game that some of them love so dearly.
The loss of such a local, family organisation would mean locals as young as 7 years old would need other alternatives for the rest of their tennis days. Older members of the Lancashire town’s sporting establishment may have already played for the last time.

The council have promised to negotiate a solution with the club in terms of possibly relocating the courts somewhere else. This may seem little consolation to older members of the club, with some having spent the majority of their lives at the Vicarage Road club.

Former ladies captain and Treasurer Hazel Cackett, spoke of her utter disappointment at the plans. As anybody who had been at the club for such a long time would do, she stated how it would be the end of an era. She said: “I’ve been a member for over 40 years, and to think it’s all going to finish is very, very sad for me.”

When asked whether or not there was anything left that the club could do in order to stop the plans, Mrs Cackett replied: “No not really, but I certainly feel as though we should have some compensation for all the money we spent on the courts two years ago, to take to another club and then have our say.

Mrs Cackett, who did confirm that things at the club will continue as normal until told otherwise added: “The church has made us feel really unwelcome when we have always had such a good relationship and helped how we can. They want us off the land by the 31st March even if they don’t get the plans for the new health centre. It’s so sad.”

Mrs Cackett continued to say how she and other older members could have played for the last time. From my point of view, what would be the point of me joining Moorland now at 70 years old and paying 140 pounds?”

The club, which would surely blame the church for any such development on the grounds due to a lack of support, would be left with a younger generation of players left looking for a place to play the game also.

Mrs Cackett added: “Over last few years we’ve had such an excellent youth coach and such enjoyment with the youngsters. Who knows, it could mean the end for them at such an early age.”

Michael Watkinson, 22, was also left feeling bitter. He said: “I think it’s a disgrace to be honest. I’ve been a member since I was eight and just feel as though the church has gone against us by agreeing to sell the land. They’ve done nothing to help us.”
If the scheme does take place, members will have few options when it comes to choosing a new place to play their beloved sport. Poulton does have another local club, Moorland Tennis club, which is a grass and shale courts club meaning St. Chads ‘hard’ court players may object to a change in their games. However looking at the map below, other alternatives are limited with the majority of Lancashire’s well known clubs being Preston based and over half an hour away.

Digital Newsroom Assessment 2 Interactive Map of alternate Clubs in Lancashire

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Digital Newsroom Assessment 2 Article 1

Plans to build a brand new ‘Super Health Centre’ in the middle of Poulton-le-Fylde are underway.

The proposals have come around after numerous local people have asked the council for the facility which, if all goes to plan, will also have a café, a police office and a park ranger station.

Planning applications are expected to be heard in the next month and if approved, The Primary Care Trust are likely to start building in the Lancashire town in the new year.

Proposals to move GPs from the town’s two existing medical centres into one brand new ‘super’ location are underway.

The project is likely to see workers from the town’s clinic also move to the site which is expected to consist of a three-storey structure on the edge of the town’s picturesque park.

The project includes plans to rebuild Poulton’s Church hall on a new site just down the road but locals seem to have numerous problems with the proposals going ahead. For a start, locals have voiced opinion over traffic problems that would occur in the already over-congested town centre.

And with this in mind, should such an attractive town be harmed in a way which means its green areas turn into high-rise buildings? The people of the town’s local 80-year old tennis club certainly think not.

The plans are set to come as a huge disappointment to these people as not only would a section of the park be lost but also their beloved club and its three courts. As yet, no guaranteed provision for replacement of the club’s courts has been put forward.

Tennis locals may need to start the search for a new club.

Preston Tithebarn Vox Pop

This was the reaction from some locals on whether the Project would be beneficial to the city and its people.

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An exciting way for business people and people thinking of starting a business to interact and link to other websites around the thoughts and views of Stelios, a successful businessman himself.

With the 'man made' financial catastrophe well and truly kicking in, a number of the regions larger retailers are the latest to feel the pinch. 

When reading a local paper this morning I discovered that the biggest companies in the North-West have had their profit warnings doubled in the last 3 weeks.

Whilst reading the reports over the crisis in the last few weeks, I have tried to relate the information I've taken in, to the way the area around me is being run. 

Reports suggested last week that a huge restructure of Preston City Centre is likely to take place in the next two years with more and more shops and retailers being brought in. As a result of this, 3 of the cities nightclubs would be knocked down. 

Now although pubs and social venues all over the region have struggled through the Crunch with a number having to have closed down altogether in recent times, the three venues I have mentioned are popular, money making establishments.

This made me think that surely, at this particular time, the revamp of the city centre would only be a waste of time, space and money if the 'shopping' industry is the supposed next big struggler!.............

Welcome to my blog. As part of my Journalism Degree at The University of Central Lancashire, I am studying a module called 'The Digital Newroom'. Within this module I have been asked to create a blog focusing on 'business'. I hope you enjoy it.