Morecambe may die

Yesterday I wrote about a questionnaire by the Liberal Democrats from 2006. There was a question about the link road to the M6. It was a hot potato at the time because those who lived next to the prospective road were up in arms. For that matter there is still an active group protesting about the possibility of the road. In fact everyone who lives in the area bought their house in the full knowledge that a road may be built near to them. A link road was first proposed in 1949 and the subject has been re-raised at fairly regular
intervals ever since - see
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/env_highways/roads/heysham/timetable.asp
As it happens the planning for the possibility of a road led to a broad expanse of land which would leave a fair distance between road and house. When compared with some of the houses and motorways in our cities Morecambe is in a very fortunate postion.

I believe the road is vital to the local economy. It is not hyperbole to say that Morecambe would die without the link. It is dying now. And this leads me to the questionnaire. It was carried out on Broadway and surrounding roads. They are not directly affected by the link road but most of Morecambe and the Heysham peninsula is not affected. There was confusion at the time mainly led by our MP who was supporting an impossible alternative. However the residents were asked if this link road was the only possibility then would they support it. Of those who expressed an opinion 96% supported the link road.

We still have a vociferous pressure group complaining in the newspapers. Unfortunatel we lost a really good councillor partly because of the NIMBY vote, but who knows, maybe we will get that link after all and Morecambe may not die.

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