Published August 11, 2021 at 11:39
Rossendale Council will be funding a town floral display to celebrate 130 years since the incorporation of Rawtenstall.
The new floral display bed, which is being created overlooking St Mary’s Way, will kickstart the ‘Celebrate Rossendale’ events to mark the milestone in a nod to the former glories of the Library Gardens.
The funding is from the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) Welcome Back Fund, which has been provided to help councils boost the look and feel of their towns and high streets allowing them to invest in street planting, green spaces, and seating areas to make them attractive and to help encourage people to visit their town centres and high streets.
Alyson Barnes, Leader of the Council, said: “We’re lucky to have such great and individual high streets and towns right across our borough. They have all struggled over the past 18 months with the various lockdowns and restrictions and whilst we must all continue to be safe it’s great that we can encourage and support people back into our towns by making them as attractive as possible – especially the main gateway into the Valley.”
As well as the ‘Flying Scotsman’ putting in an appearance on the East Lancashire Railway, Civic Pride Rossendale will be kick starting the celebrations with an informal tea-party in the Library Gardens between 1.30pm and 4.30 pm on August bank holiday that will be open to all for tea and cake.
Rossendale Ukulele Club will be performing and there will be photos of Rawtenstall over the years as well as the chance to share memories that people have from their youth. A circular heritage walking trail has also been drawn up which will take in The Weavers Cottages and the newly refurbished Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery before taking you back down the famous cobbled shopping street of Bank Street.
Sue Shuttleworth from Civic Pride Rawtenstall said: “We have so much to be proud of in Rossendale and we want to Celebrate Rossendale with a series of events starting on August bank holiday.
“Our fantastic volunteers work hard every month to keep our town looking attractive and this addition of a floral display will be a great back drop for our event.”
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European Regional Development Fund
The project has been awarded £63,416.00 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/euro
