KarlBarnsley.com

New Year Win- Pope Croft Car Park

I’m delighted to claim a new year win following more than a year of pestering Ribble Valley Borough Council to improve the drainage on Pope Croft Car Park. Yesterday was Wednesday (apparently) and I was informed that the work they carried out yesterday was to resolve the drainage problems that have plagued the centre of the car park for a long time.

The Assistant Engineer who led the project for the Council said “I can’t promise that it will never flood again but it should be good for the foreseeable future.”

I’ll take that as a good win to kick off the year.

I’m also pleased to announce that further work will be taking place from next Monday 12th throughout the week (weather permitting) to re-surface the car park as it is getting ready for that. All of this work was meant to be done before Christmas however weather and other delays pushed the works to next week.

My understanding is that the work will be done in stages so that the car park will still be partially open and you will be able to find a parking space. Please be patient with the work teams as they carry out the work. There may be a little bit of disruption but hopefully it will be minimal.

My final bit of wonderful news regarding the car park is confirmation from RVBC that the enforcement around pick up and drop off times for the school is aware of and sensitive to parents picking up and dropping of their children.

This means:

There is a standard 10 minute grace period.
The Parking attendant doesn’t arrive in Ribchester until after dropping off time.
my request for a similar sensitivity around dropping off time has been accepted so parents will have reasonable time to park up, walk to the school to collect their child and return to their car before they receive a ticket. It may help to put a note in your windscreen or even for the school to issue a card.
If, in the rare occurence of still receiving a ticket, I’ve been assured that any appeal which notes the reason for parking was school pickup will be looked favourably on.

Local Government Reorganisation and Why It’s Not Quite as Apocalyptic As Some Would Have You Believe.

Local Government Reorganisation and Why It’s Not Quite as Apocalyptic As Some Would Have You Believe.- My contribution to the Ribble Valley Borough Council Preferred option

On Wednesday evening we held a Special Meeting of Full Council at RVBC to choose our preferred option as to what form the new Unitary Authority to replace both Ribble Valley Borough and Lancashire County Council.

There was a unanimous decision across the Council that residents of the Ribble Valley would be best served by joining with Preston and Lancaster in a Four Unitary Model Accross Lancashire. Our preference will be considered by the Secretary of State for consideration when they make the final decision in Spring next year. The full details of all the available options can be seen in this useful video created by RVBC

My Speech to Special Full Council

I have given my contribution tonight a title-

Local Government Reorganisation and Why It’s Not Quite as Apocalyptic As Some Would Have You Believe.

But I will begin with a quote by Harold Wilson

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay.” (Harold Wilson)

This quote serves as a note of caution to all this evening, because what we’re discussing tonight is a massive change, a radical change. One we will be undertaking. And the major focus of what I have to say is that we must embrace both the challenges, of which there are many, but also the opportunities.

The focus of my contributions to this discussion is not the merits, or demerits, of any other option, indeed I’m certainly not opposed to the four Lancashire option put before us tonight, but I want to highlight that this decision tonight must not be the end of our input into how the new organisation is formed.

Discussion after tonight has to turn to how we want to shape not just the boundaries but the values and relationships with all stakeholders.

This council demonstrates its core values by initiatives such as the Armed Forces Covenant. In my time on this council we have become a Living Wage employer, in line with most of the Lancashire Councils. We have declared a climate emergency, in line with most of the Lancashire councils. We have a farming champion and an Armed Forces champion. All of these are values and ideas which we will have in common with our friends in our neighbouring boroughs with whom we may join.

And we can go further, we now have the opportunity to imbibe the great ideas driven by our neighbours including Lancaster’s Fair Employment Charter and Preston’s Economic Community Wealth Building Model. We will benefit from those ideas as much as they will benefit from what we will be bringing to the table. At recent Parish Council Liaison meetings, the depth of our work with Parish Councils in the Ribble Valley is something we must work to preserve and strengthen in the new arrangement. We can contribute to making the new Council a success and we must.

Tomorrow is Lancashire Day. I hope we will all be donning our flat caps and taking our ferrets for a walk. I view myself as a proud Lancastrian as much as any other identity I carry and I firmly believe that what is good for all of Lancashire is good for the Ribble Valley too.

I have always spoken about viewing local government reorganisation not through the lens of our limited Borough powers but through the lens of Lancashire County Council and the powers under their responsibility. By four Unitary Councils in Lancashire taking on those powers we will be bringing decision making over 80% of Local Government Powers including roads, schools, libraries and care homes closer to residents. We have a duty to prepare ourselves for the responsibility of those tasks which will be entrusted to us.

So what I’m calling for this evening is that as we go forward into the next phase of working with whichever of our neighbours we join with, to constitute and shape the new arrangement, we do in a spirit of fairness, open mindedness and optimism about the great things we can achieve together.

In closing Mr Mayor, to reinforce my call to embrace this change we find ourselves undertaking I’ll quote another Mr Wilson, namely Brian Wilson in the film 24 Hour Party People.

“Mutability is our tragedy but it’s also our hope.” (24 Hour Party People, Directed by Michael Winterbottom)

Note: the above quote is taken from a longer quote by Boethius and is a refrain throughout the film. It’s a great film and if you haven’t already then I really advise that you watch it.

Letter to James Hall (Spar)

Update: Since posting this on Your Ribchester I’ve had a reliable source contact me to say that James Hall don’t own the building now as we thought it did. I’m now seeking contact details for the actual owner to very much ask the same question. 21/11/2025

Several weeks ago I sent an email to James Hall (Spar) who [edit: apparently do not] own the building next to the shop in Ribchester. The state of the building has been an issue which has been of concern to residents for a while now and who have raised this with both myself and the Parish Council. Over the next few months or for as long as it takes I’m going to be pressing James Hall to do something urgently to bring the building back into use, preferably for the Community but I’m open to ideas.

So far I have not received a response from James Hall & Co

Dear James Hall & Co

I would be most grateful if you could pass the following pictures to the appropriate person.

These pictures are of the frontage of the building next to what is now the Premier Shop in Ribchester which used to be a Spar. I believe the building is still owned by James Hall and in particular this part of the building is still owned by yourselves.

As you might appreciate from the pictures, the front window is less than beneficial to the overall aesthetic marvellousness that I strive for in Ribchester and I’m wondering if we could have a conversation about how to improve the state of this building.

In the short term it is important that something can be done to improve the look of the frontage and I would welcome your ideas on how you might go about doing this. Perhaps a local artist could be engaged to create some kind of mural in a similar fashion to what happened at the Longridge Co-Op store recently after the cash machine left a massive hole in the wall?

I’m very interested in the longer term intent for this building. As you can imagine, I’m keen for the building to get some kind of use rather than the empty shell it currently is. In past times it was a museum and has a longer history beyond that. Bringing the building back into meaningful use would be a fantastic step.

Please let me know of further steps to address this matter.

Best Wishes

Cllr Karl Barnsley

Ribchester Ward

Ribble Valley Borough Council

Co-Operative Party Conference 2025- London, 15th & 16th November

Co-Operative Party Conference 2025- London, 15th & 16th November

I was delighted to get the opportunity to speak at Co-Operative Party Conference about the opportunities and also the challenges of AI in the Creative Industries and wider Future Co-Operative Economy. In a nutshell we should be doing all we can to protect artists and creatives from being exploited through AI data mining.

I’m also proud to support the work of Hope Not Hate in protecting people against the rise of dangerous far right division. The Co-operative Party is all about bringing Communities together for the common good, not dividing them.

Report to Ribchester Parish Council Monday 20th October

I always try to attend Ribchester Parish Council in my capacity as Borough Councillor and always promise the clerk a written report but then forget or get sidetracked. This time I got a little bit more organised and wrote a report which I didn’t have tome to distribute to the clerk before the meeting. I therefore gave a spoken version of this report.

There might have been or might not have been a lot happen at RVBC since my last report to you. This is extraordinary in that, ordinarily, the opposite is true. To provide a clear explanation I thought I would write down some thoughts on RVBC happenings or otherwise, as the case may be.

Full Council was on Tuesday 14^th October. It was eventful. The first thing to note is that we approved the appointment of a new Chief Executive Sarah Threlfall who will be taking over from Marshal Scott in January. He is retiring after over fifty years in local government and fifty years at Ribble Valley. We owe Marshal a massive debt of thanks for his service and welcome Sarah who will bring a fresh energy and her own experience from being Deputy Chief Exec at Preston City Council.

The October Council marked two years since the historic vote to adopt the Real Living Wage and accredit to the Living Wage Foundation. It was announced in Personnel Committee on 27^th August that the Council had finally completed the process of accreditation. I spoke in Full Council to thank Officers for taking us through the process but called out the lack of publicity around such a momentous achievement. I called for a publicity and awareness campaign which spoke to the press and marked our achievement during Living Wage Week beginning on 10^th November. My call for the Town Cryer to proclaim was politely declined…

The motion I proposed to accredit the Council to the Living Wage Foundation was a momentous achievement and makes a fantastic statement on how we value those who do work for the Council. The Full text of my comments are available here. Real Living Wage Comments

Progressive politics is certainly making headway at RVBC and as a Labour Group we voted to support a motion by Green Party Councillor which called upon RVBC to declare a climate emergency. The motion places environmental considerations to all decisions taken by the Council and directs the Council to act in a number of ways towards environmental goals. My contribution to the debate focused on the importance of Community Energy schemes, highlighting the success of schemes in Whalley and Chipping serving as proof of concept to take this further across the Borough. Over the coming year I will be raising awareness of this as an important part of Co-Operative Party energy policy, building the discussion, sowing the seeds of ideas and taking us forward as a Borough towards Community Energy.

Casework has been a little slow in finding resolutions, the Buckley Wood Footpath saga drags on with LCC making reluctant progress towards re-opening the footpath, pushed on by myself, the Ramblers Association and Maya Ellis MP.

We’re making slow but careful progress in getting a £40k grant from RVBC’s Jubilee Fund to put towards natural flood management. I sent out a survey to residents asking for them to share impact statements. This along with other arguments has swayed the responsible working group to consider again the expression of interest. I will know more soon. Our Labour Group Leader Cllr Michael Graveston asked a question on flooding at Full Council on Tuesday evening and has been fighting our corner in those working group meetings.

On weedkilling policy, it’s slow progress and I’ll be having a discussion with relevant people after Community Services Committee on Tuesday evening. A motion is written and we’re holding it in reserve in case we can’t get what we want through less formal means.

Real Living Wage

The Real Living Wage

In October 2023 I proposed a motion to Ribble Valley Borough Council for RVBC to pay the Real Living Wage and accredit to the Living Wage Foundation. Narrowly the motion passed despite opposition from the Conservatives. It was the first defeat for the Tories on RVBC in almost fifty years. At the August meeting of the Personnel Committee it was announced that the Council had finally accredited to the Living Wage Foundation. My comments to Full Council on Tuesday evening are below.

“Two years ago this Council voted to accredit to the Living Wage Foundation and pay the Real Living Wage.

I am delighted that it was announced in the Personnel meeting on 27th August that the Council has now affiliated to the Living Wage Foundation.

I would first of all like to say a massive thank you to Marshal Scott for his work on steering the Council through this long process. I would also like to say thank you once again to the Councillors who have supported both the original decision and supported the process along its way. It is a fantastic demonstration of what can be done by working together for the common good. I am proud that whatever else I may manage to achieve in politics, this counts as a massively important achievement.

I must say though that this milestone deserves a far louder announcement than a single line in the Personnel Committee minutes.

I may be getting carried away by suggesting we ask the Town Cryer to announce it from a scroll in the Market Place but I do think a strong awareness campaign to celebrate this Real Living Wage Policy adoption should be undertaken. Would Council be willing to publicly announce our accreditation with fanfare, social media, website, press releases and, yes, let’s go the whole hog actually and see if the town cryer is available? Perhaps this can be done at the same time as we celebrate Real Living Wage week commencing Monday 10th November because I’m sure you will all agree, that is a fantastic way to promote the Real Living Wage and our status as a Living Wage Employer?“

The Original Speech to Full Council

“Mr Mayor thank you for the opportunity to introduce this motion to accredit this Council to the Living Wage Foundation.

Since I was elected in May I’ve noticed the pride by many councillors of their background in business. Many have spoken of the success of their businesses with pride and when we’ve had briefings, for example on the personnel committee from health and safety officers they’ve conveyed a real sense of care for supporting the people who carry out work on our behalf and I want to commend that. As a Labour Councillor this matters to me it’s why my own party was formed over a hundred years ago and continues as one of its core values. It should be acknowledged though that desire to ensure workers thrive need not and is not exclusive to just my party. It’s not a contentious notion that people, so proud of the success of their businesses, could believe that a mark of such success is that all of the people who contribute work to their businesses are given the opportunity to thrive. And this carries over to the work we do here. This motion indisputably makes moral sense.

Mr Mayor, I believe that as Councillors, we should share that same sense of responsibility and commitment to the people who work on our behalf. We should send a message that we care that all our Council staff are given that opportunity to thrive. That’s why I believe that introducing a Living Wage Policy makes financial sense, makes moral sense and it is the right thing to do.

“The basic intuition behind the Foundation Living Wage is a simple one: to determine the wage rate necessary to ensure that households earn enough to reach a minimum acceptable living standard as defined by the public.”

The Foundation Living Wage is set by the Living Wage Foundation currently calculated to £10.90 per hour (Outside of London). There will be new rates introduced on 25^th October.

The National Living Wage, a separate concept, which is set by the Government, is the top age band of the National Minimum Wage Structure and is currently set at £10.42 per hour. My Union Unite have said that Four in Ten of every Universal Credit Claimants are in work. Clearly the National Living Wage is not enough for hard working people. There will be new rates announced in April and I’ll leave it to your instinct as to whether that new rate will be closer to the Foundation Living Wage or further away. Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachael Reeves said yesterday that she will align the two standards and lock them together for a Real Living Wage. If the current government were prepared to do that right now then this motion would largely be obsolete. But I’m an impatient man. I don’t think we should wait, if we act now we move with the times rather than falling behind the times. Experience tells us that waiting for the government to do something sets us in for an intolerable wait, the time to do the right thing is always now.

Across the country there are 12,500 recognised Living Wage employers; 10% of which are in the North West, including neighbouring Borough Councils. Several Town Councils are recognised as well as Conservative led Lancashire County Council. To my unending pride Ribchester Parish Council pays the Foundation Living Wage, because it’s the right thing to do.

Mr Mayor, the financial impact on Council finances of this new policy is small. The Council currently employs only two staff below the Foundation Living Wage, on £10.60. Whilst we’re still awaiting the pay final settlement it was stated by the Leader of the Council at the July Council that under the pay offer being consulted on right now, this rate would be raised by 9.4% to £11.60, well above the current Foundation Living Wage rate. This motion would future proof the commitment to a real living wage and future pay negotiations with no unanticipated increases in Council expenditure. We would also be sending a message that we expect external contractors to pay their staff at least Foundation Living Wage. My belief is that there would be only positive effects by this use of our procurement powers. It makes real economic sense.

Mr Mayor, this motion has been consulted with Unison both locally and regionally. We’ve also consulted with the Living Wage Foundation. It was intimated to me by the Leader of the Council that the crucial thing for this motion was to have the support of the Union. And I agree. While we’re still awaiting final settlement on the pay deal, the Ribble Valley Unison Rep has offered advice on wording and continues to fully support this motion.

I’ll sum up now Mr Mayor, when we put money in the pockets of our staff we know that that money is going to be spent locally. Our staff are local to us. They don’t commute from Manchester or Leeds. They spend their money in local shops, local cafes and local pubs. This puts money into our local economy. It builds wealth in our local Community. Our commitment to paying them at least the Foundation Living Wage will allow our staff to lead a rich life and put money into the local economy. When our staff thrive, the local community thrives too.

This motion makes economic sense, this motion makes moral sense. This is the right thing to do and I commend this to the Council.“

The Text of the Motion

Living Wage Motion Download

My Letter To County Councillor Ian Duxbury

Dear Councillor Duxbury

I’d like to welcome you to your position as County Councillor for Longridge with Bowland and introduce myself as Ribble Valley Borough Councillor for Ribchester ward.

Although coming from different parties and political perspectives I wish you well in your new role, because when a Councillor is successful, this brings success the area they represent regardless of politics. I look forward to working with you to solve the problems that Ribchester residents have raised with me in my time as their Councillor.

I would like to lay out the key issues that I believe should be prioritised by Lancashire County Council in Ribchester in the hope that you will be a reliable partner in resolving the problems laid out.

Lancashire County Council is the lead authority for flooding. Ribchester suffers from problems with flooding periodically, with houses on Greenside and Ribblesdale road particularly affected. What support can you lobby for from Lancashire County Council to combat flooding in Ribchester? Will LCC provide support for upland flood management?
Ribchester is a really cool place to visit and there are spots which are magnets to young people on bright and sunny days. Unfortunately, there have been too many incidents in recent years of anti-social behaviour spoiling this for residents and visitors alike. Will you engage with me and support the implementation the measures we’ve talked about regarding anti-social behaviour during the summer months and will you support the LCC youth outreach officers who work hard to offer diversionary activities to stop ASB?
Your predecessor Rupert Swarbrick, despite being the cabinet member for Highways and Transport failed to satisfactorily address the highways issues in Ribchester. The Government had to step in to provide £43 million to LCC this year. This money was ringfenced specifically for potholes. Unfortunately, the current standard of repairs wastes this opportunity. In addition, there are huge traffic calming concerns in Ribchester with speeding through the village and a steady stream of disastrous driving causing regular damage to De Tabley Bridge. Residents are concerned that further, more serious accidents will occur in the village soon. What assurances can you provide that the new LCC administration will fix potholes, resurface Preston Road and introduce the traffic calming measures we’re crying out for?

I will be happy to discuss further with you how we can make progress on these key issues. Whilst there is a unfortunate tendency sometimes to conflate national powers with local government powers during elections, it is important to work pragmatically together with the powers that we can influence, and I will measure your success by the progress that is made.

Kind Regards

Cllr Karl Barnsley

Ribchester Ward

Ribble Valley Borough Council

I sent this to Cllr Duxbury’s Lancashire County Council email address. I encourage residents to write to him outlining the issues you feel deserve priority in Ribchester. His email is ian.duxbury@lancashire.gov.uk

My Thoughts on the Lancashire County Council Election Results

I pride myself on being a pragmatic, progressive politician. I look for creative and hopefully intelligent solutions to problems which my residents come to me with. I work hard to deal with those issues and I quite often get results, although I’m conscious never to make false promises. I’m not alone in this. My Labour colleagues across Lancashire do this too. Whether it being campaigning for traffic calming measures, building a pump track, keeping Waddow Hall open for Guiding Groups or organizing Community Cleanup Days. We work hard and we have a practical approach to our work. It’s absolutely devastating that so many of my Labour colleagues lost their seats at County Hall last week. Whatever the long term effects of the vote across Lancashire last week, I and my Labour colleagues in the Ribble Valley will still be working hard for you and I want you all to know this.

Lancashire County Council is now controlled by Reform UK. In Longridge with Bowland County Council Division Reforms’ Ian Duxbury was elected as County Councillor. I campaigned hard for our Labour candidate Kieren Spencer and I want to pay tribute to the strong campaign that Kieren ran. When I stood for County in 2021 I got 746 votes. For Kieren to get over 1000 votes is a major step forward for Labour and a positive thing to build upon. As the graphic below shows, the Labour Party remains the largest party in Local Government by a considerable margin. It’s because we work hard for our residents.

I genuinely wish Cllr Ian Duxbury well in his new office, because failure will be damaging for residents, not just politicians. I will be writing to Ian Duxbury soon to begin discussions with him on the challenges affecting Ribchester. I would encourage all to write to him with your concerns around Lancashire County Council issues.

I will write to Cllr Duxbury outlining what I believe his top priorities for Ribchester should be:

What support can the County Council provide to combat flooding in Ribchester? Will they provide support for upland flood management?
Will he engage and implement the measures we’ve talked about regarding anti-social behavior during the summer months and will he support the LCC youth outreach officers who work hard to offer diversionary activities to stop ASB?
What will the new LCC administration do to fix potholes, resurface Preston road and introduce the traffic calming measures we’re crying out for?

My offer goes out to work productively with Ian Duxbury to find pragmatic solutions to these issues and more. I’ll give him the opportunity to succeed along these lines but will also be prepared to hold him to account where he fails to live upto the promises his party made during the election or where he is in danger of letting down Ribchester residents

But I know that many people will be looking at last weeks election results with dismay and concern. The values of Reform UK are values I’ve rejected for all of my life both before and during my time in politics. I know many will feel the same. I want to re-assure you that I will continue to be fighting hard for residents in Ribchester as your Ribble Valley Borough Councillor, promoting my Labour and Co-operative values as I have always done. I hope this will be of some re-assurance to you.

Let’s not be coy, the County Council election was a defeat, against a party totally at odds with the values many of us hold dear. Values which I wear on my sleeve as a Labour party activist, equality, inclusivity, community and solidarity. I’ll be fighting populism and the far right every single day but I need you in the fight with me. To those who share those similar values now is the right time to take the plunge and join.

To quote Stella Creasy MP “don’t get angry, get organized”

Join The Labour Party

My Contribution to the Ribble Valley Borough Budget Council Meeting

This evening I gave the following speech in support of Cllr Michael Gravestons’ amendment to the budget at Full Council. The amendment didn’t pass and as a Labour Group we abstained on the substantive motion on the budget. The reason for this is outlined in the following speech.

Madam Mayor, this budget has a number of things to commend to it as it is possibly the biggest spend this Council has ever made. It tends to be a Labour thing to work towards big budgets. We tend to look towards finding greater income to enable us spend bigger and provide greater public services. That’s a basic fact of politics. And when my Labour colleagues and I were elected to this Council almost two years ago our promise of doing things differently heavily suggested that this was the approach we want this Council to take.

Admittedly, we did want this process to happen over a slightly greater time span rather than all at once. Feasibility is certainly of the things that causes concern to us, as we’ve made clear over the course of this committee cycle. However, I will accept the point that circumstances beyond the control of this Council have made this faster approach this year necessary.

I welcome money being spent. I welcome the commitment to £500k to be spent on affordable housing and welcome spending in other areas too. We need to make these investments and as a Labour and Co-Operative Councillor, investment in affordable housing is something which I’m absolutely in favour of. The detail though is where it will all matter. I believe that as well as the financial commitment there must be a plan for how this £500k will be spent to support affordable housing. Like my criticisms of the new market spend of also £500k at the last Policy and Finance Committee, which I stand by, it is vital that when making spending commitments, we have a clear plan of how that money will be spent. My concern remains that those plans are not yet clear when making these spending commitments. I look forward to seeing how these plans develop and indeed contributing to that development over the next committee cycle and as a progressive politician I will be demanding progress.

And on the subject of progress I’m keen that progress is made on finally setting the criteria for the Jubilee Fund although it seems that the budget working group is doubling its workload by setting up this new RV version of the SPF to be developed in parallel with the Jubilee fund this year. It will be a failure of this Council if we do not approve criteria for both funds this year. I have projects in mind for my ward which will benefit greatly from these funds including, as I mentioned earlier in this meeting the opportunities for flood resilience and upland flood management projects which I hope will be part of the criteria funding examples.

Madam Mayor, the greatest thing upon which we differ on this budget is the future of Ribblesdale pool.

I feel that, given the discussions we have had around the pool and its short, medium and long term future, the proposals currently in this budget lack the ambition to preserve the pool into the future. Let’s make no bones about it, This is make or break time for Ribblesdale pool and I fully support Councillor Graveston’s crucial amendment, which earmarks an additional £1m for vital works to make the pool sustainable, which will extend the life of the pool and will reduce the risk of the pool’s failure for the short term. It’s clear to me that we’ll need to invest further in future years to maintain this vital asset for the Borough. Without that sufficient funding, we’ll be lamenting the closure of the pool in ten years time and I don’t want to be the one to say then, that in this meeting tonight there was more we could have done.

A Tribute to Cllr Bill Holden

I was devastated to learn over the weekend of the death of our Labour colleague Councillor Bill Holden. Bill was elected last July as Borough Councillor for St Mary’s ward in Clitheroe and served faithfully as part of the Labour Group in the short time he was a Councillor.

First and foremost my thoughts are with his children Jess, Fran, Joe and Sam. Bill lost his wife Jan about 18 months ago.

Putting into words who Bill was and how he featured in my own life for many years is both very easy but also incredibly difficult. I have many years of knowing Bill to help me write these words but putting them in the right order and with the eloquence this task deserves is far harder. I had privilege of knowing Bill for a long time in different ways.

I first knew Bill when he coached the under 15’s team for Clitheroe Wolves. In Cllr Michael Graveston’s own tribute he recalls how Bill told him that of all the jobs he ever had, managing the under 15’s and 16’s was the toughest and most stressful he ever had. I was his goalkeeper…

As a fourteen year old kid with dreams of being the next Brad Friedel or Peter Schmeichel, which were wildly incompatible with reality, Bill was my football coach. One can only imagine the patience needed by him to coach a team with me in goal, yet he dedicated time and energy to help me develop with extra training. He still occasionally called me by an old nickname when we served together on the Council and in Labour Party meetings.

A few years after Clitheroe Wolves I’d occasionally see Bill around town, usually in the supermarket and we’d always have a good chat. I was absolutely delighted when, one day I saw his name on the list of new members to the local Labour party. Bill worked hard for the cause, delivering leaflets in the cold and rain, he approached those sorts of tasks with a hardy resilience and, as I came to appreciate, a quiet but noticeable humour that I can’t properly describe.

When Bill decided to stand for Council last year, I read his application and was delighted to learn more about what drove Bill and his contributions to Clitheroe life to that point. He was born in Hyndburn but lived for forty years in Clitheroe and raised his family. He wanted others to enjoy the same benefits that he and his family had from living in Clitheroe. To that end Bill served as the Chair of the Friends of Pendle School, was activities co-ordinator for the Clitheroe Chernobyl Group and of course manager for Clitheroe Wolves u15& 16 team. Bill was a Clitheroe man through and through and sought out ways to serve the community.

Bill loved football. He’d go and see any team, Blackburn Rovers, Accrington Stanley and perhaps quite curiously, Stockport County. It wasn’t a particular team that he followed but the game itself. I saw him at the East Lancs Derby in January and I think we’d challenged each other to another game of chess that day.

I’ll challenge anybody to a game of chess and Bill was a willing opponent, we’d play the occasional game against each other. I think he’d managed one win against me, and I won the rest. It was never about keeping score though.

Bill’s passing has come as a massive shock to us. There were brilliant ideas that Bill was floating to us in our group. We intend to pursue and campaign on those brilliant ideas and it’s cruel and infuriating that Bill’s contribution to our cause and this Council has been cut so short. It’s my belief though that Bill wouldn’t have thought of it like that.

There are three ways that I will remember Bill: as my coach, as my comrade, as my friend.