Published March 24, 2021 at 8:37
Rossendale Borough Council, along with local business leaders, have developed a business recovery plan to help the local economy navigate its way out of pandemic and lockdowns.
The impact of COVID-19 on local areas in 2020/2021 has been significant and authorities like Rossendale have borne the brunt of this impact.
Alyson Barnes, Council Leader, said: “We have been faced with many challenges brought on by this pandemic and these challenges are going to affect businesses everywhere – not just in Rossendale – well into 2021 and beyond.
“As a forward-thinking council, we are looking to our recovery phase and want to make sure we’re in a good position with a strategic plan to help navigate our way out of this phase. Achieving the same levels of growth seen pre-pandemic is our goal and this plan should help us to get there.”
With input from the business community, Rossendale Borough Council have developed an action plan to help businesses recover from COVID-19, allowing the economy to stabilise and recover from the effects of the pandemic.
The council have generated over £18m in funding to support the local business community as part of their initial response to the pandemic. The business-based action plan will also be used to lobby for more funding and additional resources to benefit local people.
Cllr Barnes continued: “In the short term we will focus on addressing the needs of re-opening the business community. Supporting our town centres, retail offerings and business operations in a way that is compliant with government guidelines and enables footfall to return safely.
“Our three distinct town centres and the small businesses in the valley form the backbone of our Borough and we’ve done a lot of work over the past decade to improve and assist these smaller businesses that make our valley so vibrant. It’s important that doesn’t stop now.
“In the medium term we will be looking to build strong partnerships to lead an approach that will focus on the future of our fantastic Valley.
“We are setting out measures we intend to take over the next 12 months and beyond to ensure we have a strong springboard to our return to pre-pandemic levels of success.”
Government policy and Lancashire policy has highlighted ways to respond to the challenges faced by many businesses and the Council has been examining best practice and data from other areas to understand how it can adapt to help the business community and so that when opportunities arise, it is well placed to capitalise on them.
Rossendale Borough Council hope to use the plan as a framework for recovery and look to work with other local authorities and businesses so the plan aligns with other regional and national plans.
Rossendale’s Business Recovery plan can be seen here: http://bit.ly/rbcrecoveryplan