Town’s golden future
by Gary Skentelbery
WARRINGTON’S flagship ?120 million Golden Square development will open on Thursday May 24 following a two month delay in construction work.
Warrington-Worldwide’s online TV channel www.warrington.tv was given an exclusive “behind the scenes” view of the ongoing works by centre manager David Allinson.
The 375,000 sq ft extension, will make Warrington one of the top 40 shopping destinations in the country, attracting high street giants including Debenhams, H&M and Republic as well as a new home for Boots, who will be vacating their Bridge Street premises.
Renovation work on the existing 310,000sq ft shopping centre will also be completed on time bringing it in line with the new extension.
The new look Golden Square, which will include increased car parking capacity for the town centre, is expected to bring a massive boost to the local economy, creating over 1,000 new jobs.
A regional TV advertising campaign and 500,000 brochure mailshot across the region will also help put Warrington on the map.
The centre had been scheduled to open in March but was postponed due to unexpected utility problems.
PCSO’s to be used
to tackle yob problem?
by David Skentelbery
POLICE Community Support Officers look set to be used to tackle Warrington’s yob problem.
The town’ s 22 new PCSOs are likely to be deployed as a ?first response? to dealing with anti-social behaviour.
The borough council?s executive board will at its meeting on April 2 be recommended to adopt this approach to using the new officers recruited by the council.
It is thought they will be able to reduce the time it takes the police currently to respond to such incidents.
The PCSOs would be directed by the community ? via the police Community Action Meetings ? and the multi-agency problem-solving Neighbourhood Actions Teams.
There are currently four Neighbour Action Teams in the town and four PCSOs would be attached to each team, with two officers becoming business crime co-ordinators with a specific responsibility for the town centre.
Later, when some expertise has been established, linking in with Gemini, Birchwood, Stockton Heath and the proposed Omega development, it may be appropriate to explore with businesses the possibility of them investing directly in more PCSOs.
Town Hall chiefs believe the use of PCSOs in this way will reduce the response time to complaints of anti-social behaviour.
Currently it can take anything from three days to three weeks for the police to look into an incident of anti-social behaviour because resources are tight and they have to deal with higher priority incidents.
But the report states: ?This is not something we should just accept?the deployment of dedicated PCSOs would begin to address this issue.?
The use of PCSOs dedicated to tackling business crime has also proved effective in other areas.
Police chiefs have confirmed they would support the proposals.
Neil’s mercy mission
to provide clean water
by John Hendon
WATER analyst Neil Hancox is back home in the North West after a two-week mercy mission to slum districts of India where a lack of clean water kills four children a minute.
Neil, 30, from Great Sankey, Warrington decided to do some hands-on work in India after years of fundraising for the international charity WaterAid.
He travelled to Gwalior, in North India and helped build a new latrine toilet for a family in a village where, for the first time, every house is now equipped with a toilet, thanks to money from the charity.
Neil said: “We all hear the horrendous facts and figures about poverty, infant mortality, lack of water etc, but it’s one thing reading statistics and quite another speaking to the people actually affected by them.
“It’s an experience that really hit home. Here in the Western World, we take water for granted – a simple twist of the tap and it’s there.
“During my visit I spent a day in the life of a family in a rural village to experience what it is like to live without clean water or sanitation, and I also met community leaders to discuss the effects that this has on the people. I can’t imagine not even having a toilet – can you?”
Neil has been raising money for WaterAid ever since he started work at United Utilities’ headquarters at Warrington 10 years ago.
In the region he visited, nine out of every 100 children die before their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable diseases like diarrhoea. Four children die a minute because of preventable water-borne diseases.
He saw how WaterAid works with communities, decides on where to focus its activities and local people so that the projects achieve sustainable, long-term success. He also visited places where WaterAid’s work is in progress or has been completed, and saw for himself the huge transformation water, a toilet and hygiene education can make to peoples’ lives.
“I would like to return in about four years to do more work and again meet the friends I made to see how clean water and sanitation has benefited them,” he said.
College sports stars
sample warm weather
by staff reporter
BUDDING sports stars from Priestley College, Warrington spent seven days at the warm weather training camp at Club La Santa, Lanzarote.
Twenty four youngsters who are serious about pursuing professional sports careers went on the trip to a centre more accustomed to welcoming people who are already professionals.
The weather – a break from the winter – allowed the group to develop both physically and mentally across a range of no less than 26 separate disciplines.
A sense of fun and enjoyment remained paramount to the study experience throughout but the nature of working hard was not lost on any of the group who were able to excel within an environment geared to sporting excellence.
Students took part in activities which including swimming, beach volleyball, windsurfing, mountain biking and gym based assessments.
Exercise regimes were set to gradually increase in difficulty throughout the week and students kept records of their progress via log books. Central to the experience was a range of seminars on such subjects as sports nutrition and conditioning.
Head of Sport Nigel Howells, who led the trip said: “It was great to spend time with our students who once again were a shining representation of the college and Warrington in general.
“The La Santa resort really allows students something completely different and gives them an opportunity to develop away from their usual conditions and climate.”
Student Michael Timmins added: “The La Santa experience was great as it allowed me to take part in new sports as well as get to know people better.
“It was also a useful experience to speak a new language and I felt I was able to get most out of my time by training hard while also having a good time.”
Leadership training
for young people
by staff reporter
AN organisation which has been providing leadership training for young people for almost 50 years in the US is to hold a four day residential seminar at Warrington.
HOBY UK will be running the seminar at the Warrington Campus of the University of Chester on April 12-15.
?HOBY? stands for ?Hugh O?Brien Youth? and it was founded in 1957 by former Wyatt Earp actor Hugh O?Brien following a life-changing meeting with Dr Albert Schweizer.
Some 370,000 young people have since been through its programmes and many now occupy senior positions in business, government and the voluntary sector.
Each year for the last five years, two 15 year olds from Sir Thomas Boteler CE High School, Warrington have attended HOBY’s World Leadership Congress in Washington DC They have all enjoyed the experience immensely and have used their new knowledge and skills to make a posi
tive difference in their school, their community and in their own lives.
Speakers including Steve Broomhead, chief executive, North West Development Agency, Professor Tim Wheeler, Vice Chancellor, University of Chester and Helen Southworth, MP for Warrington South, have volunteered their services for the seminar.
The aim is to create a rich programme, enabling young people to explore the deep ethical and moral questions facing today’s leaders, and to develop the skills that will enable them to become the leaders of tomorrow. The programme will cover leadership in business, sport, politics and volunteering.
The two most outstanding delegates will be selected to attend this July’s World Leadership Congress in Washington DC.
More information can be found at www.boteler.org.uk/hobyuk or by calling John Sharples, director of HOBY UK on 01925 636414.
