Delight as Haslingden funding bid clears first stage

A bid for funding to further develop exciting new plans for Haslingden has been approved.

A bold new vision and masterplan for the town, which have been shaped by businesses and residents, were unveiled earlier this year called Haslingden 2040.

It includes plans to create new event spaces, shared green areas for people to meet and better pedestrian links.

The documents have formed the basis of a bid to the National Lottery Heritage fund.

Thanks to National Lottery Players, the bid has passed it 1st stage of approval meaning more than £100,000 has been awarded to the Council, which will also add £15,000 worth of match funding, to work up more detailed plans.

Councillors will be discussing the funding at the next Council meeting on December 23.

The project is very much community and business led and has been overseen by the Haslingden Town Centre Strategic Board.

Leader of the Council Councillor Alyson Barnes, who is also chair of the board, welcomed the news. She said:

“I am delighted the bid has cleared the first stage. It gives us resources to really work up detailed proposals to present to the next stage. If we are successful, we would unlock millions of pounds worth of funding to put into the town centre and deliver the priorities of the people and businesses of Haslingden.

“The town has so much potential so our job is to make sure we bring in the funding to unlock that potential.
“As a Council, we are concentrating on our town centres and people can see our efforts are paying off.”

Councillor Jackie Oakes, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, said:

“We spoke to hundreds of people to create the vision and masterplan. We listened carefully to what people said. We want to create a town centre people can be proud of.
Our vision is acting as a call to action that brings people, public services, businesses and community organisations together and really get behind the town and create a positive vibe.
“I want to pay tribute to everyone who has worked on this bid including the officers and the community. There is still a lot of work to be done but things are starting to look positive. I hope everyone gets behind what we are doing so we can really change Haslingden for the better.”