Community could come together to achieve what council can’t

We are definitely going to have the donkeys back; the kids (and parents) loved them, so they are a must. Carla went to great lengths to ensure the donkeys came from a reputable stable and had been vet checked etc, but it was worth it.

We also decided we would try for the petting zoo, which we almost had for MC15. We had to cancel the Friday before the carnival due to red tape.

The irony is, that if the city council had not closed the toilets by the former Dome Arena, the kids could have used these to wash their hands and we could have had our petting zoo. I am determined to have it at MC16, so I guess I need to speak to Lancaster City Council about re-opening these toilets and, while we are at it, the ones at the bottom of Regent Road need re-opening, too.

Now I’m sure the council is going to come along and say: “Oh no, can’t be done, it will cost too much, we’ve tried this before.” Well, let’s have a look, let’s see what kind of state they are in and what needs doing to get them operational again.

If the city council can’t manage to get them open, maybe we, the residents of Morecambe can. That would be something, the community coming together to run things the council can’t.

Why stop at toilets? We have a huge hole in the seafront in Morecambe where the Dome used to be; there does not appear to be any realistic plans for this area, so maybe the community needs to come together and formulate plans for this.

The Coastal Communities Fund has awarded local organisations £119m since 2012 to stimulate economic growth and we missed out on this funding because we didn’t apply.

There’s soon to be £90m up for grabs again, so let’s at least have a go at attracting some of this money for Morecambe.