08/56, 8 March 2008
Skelmersdale - building a town centre to be proud
of
Get ready to give your views
Skelmersdale residents should watch out for a special delivery - a
newsletter and questionnaire about multi-million pound proposals to
transform the town centre.
The newsletter and questionnaire will be sent to more than 15,000
homes and businesses in the town inviting people to look at the
plans and give their views on the town centre masterplan.
The masterplan outlines proposals to bring a new heart to
Skelmersdale town centre, with new features that local people have
said they want - a new high street, more shops, another
supermarket, a new leisure centre, community facilities,
improvements to the Tawd Valley, and housing.
The newsletters and questionnaires are being issued to coincide
with the start of the six-week public consultation period on the
masterplan that begins on Thursday 13 March.
Cllr Ian Grant, portfolio holder for Regeneration, said: "Now is
the time for local people to look at the newsletter and the
masterplan and give their views. The Council is also holding a
special exhibition in the Concourse to give local people the
opportunity to come and find out more and to have their say.
"These are exciting proposals to bring a new heart to the town
centre with up to £350 million investment that will benefit
everyone who lives and works in West Lancashire and give us a town
centre that we can all be proud of.
"We want as many people as possible to get involved and tell us
what they think. The Council will consider all comments made before
we finalise the masterplan during the summer."
How to give your views
The consultation period runs from 13 March to 24 April and the
deadline for return of questionnaires is 5pm on 24 April.
· Fill in the questionnaire that is delivered with the
newsletter
· From 13 March you can give your views online
· Go along to the exhibitions in the Concourse on 27, 28, 29 March
between 11am and 4pm, and on 31 March to 4 April between 12 noon
and 2pm
· If you want to see the entire masterplan document, and comment on
it in more detail, copies and forms will also be available to view
at the Customer Service Point in the Concourse Shopping Centre, the
Ecumenical Centre, Skelmersdale Library, local Post Offices and the
Council Offices on Derby Street, Ormskirk.
Once the masterplan is finalised, the developer will submit
planning applications for the first stage of redevelopment, which
is scheduled to start next year. The planning applications will be
assessed against the masterplan and local people will have the
chance to give their views on these applications.
Main proposals in the masterplan
· A new high street will be built, linking the Concourse and Asda.
This will be a pedestrian-friendly street, probably with limited
access for cars and buses
· A new sports centre and swimming pool for community use, and a
brand new multi-million pound building for Skelmersdale College, at
the north end of the new high street, near Asda
· A cinema, plus shops, bars and restaurants along the new high
street, with residential apartments above. Parking facilities would
also be provided
· A new library/resource centre, a new police facility and a new
building for the Ecumenical Centre in the heart of the town
centre
· A new bus station on the eastern side of the Concourse, and a new
hotel at the side of the Concourse close to where the current bus
station stands
· A new food superstore to be integrated with the Concourse
centre
· A new link road, with traffic calming to improve safety, running
north from the Concourse to connect with existing road
networks
· A high-quality adventure play area for children in the town
centre.
· Improvements to the Tawd Valley, with new paths and cycleways.
The provision of appropriate specialist recreational activities
will also be investigated
This proposal differs significantly from previous proposals for the
town centre in that it is in no way dependent on external grant
funding either regionally, nationally or from Europe. The
development and sale of new housing as part of the project will
provide the finance necessary to secure many of the less commercial
aspects of the scheme such as the new library/resource centre,
Ecumenical Centre and sports centre.
Housing
Around 1,150 new homes are proposed in the town centre. These will
be a mixture of houses and apartments and will include around 115
affordable homes, either for rent or purchase. All housing will
need to be of the highest quality and design and will respect
wooded areas, particularly in the river valley, and existing
properties close by. The masterplan allocates open land alongside
Yewdale for development and also shows the clearance and
redevelopment of Firbeck for new homes which will have a
high-quality design and layout.
Redevelopment of Firbeck has been selected as the preferred option
for a number of reasons including:
· It allows the town centre area to be planned and redeveloped as a
whole
· It will make new development on neighbouring land more attractive
and viable.
· The property at Firbeck is not well designed or well laid out and
doesn't meet the standard of housing that residents have a right to
expect. Redevelopment will enable better-quality housing, of a
range of types, to be built. It will also enable existing residents
to be offered a range of better relocation opportunities.
Council officers are visiting all homes in Firbeck and Findon to
discuss people's individual needs, give information about what will
be provided if demolition does go ahead, and to carry out further
consultation.
The Council is proposing to work with the developer, St Modwen, to
identify a range of sites in Skelmersdale, around the town centre,
where new houses can be built to compensate for the homes lost at
Firbeck and Findon if demolition goes ahead. These would then be
offered to the displaced tenants
Related information
> Your
views
> Regeneration projects