Pendle News Room

Councillor Nadeem Ahmed, Leader of Pendle Council, said: “This is the news we’ve been waiting for! 

“We can now forge ahead with our ambitious 10 year plan for Nelson.

“This is an exciting time and the £25 million cash injection from the Government will help us lever in around £40 million of additional funding from the public and private sector.

“It will have a big impact on our economy, creating and safeguarding around 700 jobs and improving the quality of life for local residents, including a better future for young people,” he explained.

And he added: “Winning Town Deal funding is a huge credit to everyone who took part by giving their views and sharing ideas to help shape a new future for Nelson.

“It’s been a massive team effort, led by the hard-working Town Deal Board” he explained. 

“I also want to thank Pendle’s MP Andrew Stephenson for lobbying for Nelson.

“Now the real work begins as we progress onto the next stage.

“This involves developing a detailed business case for each project which will need to be signed off by the Government before they release the funding – a process which could take up to 12 months,” he explained.

The Town Deal Board is made up of representatives from local businesses, the community and voluntary sector, Pendle Council, Nelson Town Council, Lancashire County Council, Pendle’s MP, Nelson and Colne College and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Stephen Barnes, who chairs the Town Deal board, said: “This is fantastic news not just for Nelson but for the whole of Pendle and East Lancashire.

“Well done to a great team approach from all those involved.

“It will mean we can get to work making Nelson’s future brighter and focusing on much needed regeneration, skills development, enterprise and better transport networks, digital skills and connectivity.”

The Towns Fund will be invested in eight key projects:

• A revitalised Nelson - bringing high profile and long-term vacant and under-used buildings and sites into the town back into use for residential and commercial purposes
• A Healthy Town – with new leisure facilities for young people at Pendle Wavelengths and improvements in Nelson’s three parks to help address the issue of poor health and wellbeing in the town’s community including childhood obesity
• This is Nelson – a five year arts and culture programme
• Advanced Digital Skills Hub and Academy - creating a new skills facility at Nelson and Colne College and in the town centre
• Pendle Youth Employment Service (YES) Hub – a one-stop shop to support Pendle’s 16-24-year olds to provide training and other opportunities to help young people get into work and training
• Modernising Nelson’s Industrial Offer – acquiring and redeveloping sites for new employment uses
• Business Resilience and Improvement – by providing grants to support expansion projects including premises, plant and machinery to help create sustainable jobs and improve productivity in our manufacturing sector
• Accessible Nelson – improving traffic flow and parking around the town centre, creating a quality environment including at key gateway routes and better walking and cycling opportunities for sustainable transport in the town.

Councillor Ahmed added: “Over 400 local people took part in the consultation to shape this plan which will give new hope to our community.

“The investment is also designed to help us move forward in an area which has been severely impacted by the pandemic,” he stated.