Lancashire Food Festival 2013

Prepare your taste buds for a culinary extravaganza at the 16th Lancashire Food Festival! The annual festival is this year taking place over the weekend of 13th-14th August from 10.00am until 3.30pm each day. Entrace fee is just £1.00 (with under-16s getting in free when accompanied by an adult).

With special guest chef Ed Baines, over 50 exhibitors from Lancashire and beyond will be on hand to tempt you with a huge selection of food favourites ranging from Lancashire pies to Black pudding, chimney cakes to handmade flapjacks, cheesecakes to speciality coffee…there will be something for everyone.

So come along, have a great day out, nibble new taste sensations and enjoy a warm Lancashire welcome!

For further information check out the website:

http://www.hyndburnleisure.co.uk/lancashirefoodfestival/

Mercer Memorial Clock Tower gets Lottery funding

Hyndburn Borough Council has received £27,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project to rejuvenate the Mercer Memorial Clock Tower; a key grade II listed building at the historic heart of Great Harwood.

Led by Hyndburn Borough Council, the Great Harwood Civic Society and the Great Harwood Community Action Group, the project not only focuses on the renovation of the clock tower itself, but also aims to promote awareness of John Mercer, the inventor of cotton Mercerisation, through a series of promotional events.

The project will work with local schools and local artists to develop a series of educational resource materials, which will continue to be used long after the project has finished.  The scheme aims to promote an understanding of the historic environment of Great Harwood and create pride amongst young people about the place where they live.

Work to the clock tower will be completed during the summer of 2013, culminating in an unveiling event aimed at capturing some of the emotion around the original opening of the memorial, which was attended by some 4,000 people in 1903.  A week long exhibition will be held later in 2013 showcasing the project and the work created by the children.

Great Harwood Councillor Ciaran Wells said; “The building is associated with a strong sense of civic pride for Harroders and has in recent years deteriorated, so the award of the funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund is a massive boost for the town and we are thrilled to have received their support.

Cllr Wells added; “This is fantastic news for Great Harwood and I’m delighted that not only will improvements be made to the clock tower, but also that the local community and schools will be involved”.

Sara Hilton, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said: “Mercer Memorial Clock Tower is an important local landmark in the heart of Great Harwood and represents a key part of the town’s rich industrial history. Through HLF’s grant, this impressive structure will undergo much-needed restoration work and local people will be able to learn about and enjoy the story of the tower, and John Mercer, for many years to come.”

The clock tower, which is at the heart of the much loved historic town square, was unveiled in 1903 with much local pride, and dedicated to John Mercer, the inventor of a cotton treatment process known as Mercerisation.  Mercerisation was a milestone for the cotton industry making the material softer, stronger and easier to dye.  In recent years the façade of the clock tower has deteriorated and now the building will be cleaned, re-pointed and some of the worn stone replaced.  The building will be stabilised, although not every piece of worn material will be replaced as the everyday wear and tear forms part of the buildings history.

Full Council - 21st March 2013

The next full meeting of the Council is on Thursday 21st March at 7.00pm at Accrington Town Hall. All 35 Hyndburn Councillors will be present and a full set of meeting papers can be found here:

Council - 21st March 2013

This is an open meeting and members of the public are welcome to come and view proceedings from the gallery.

St Huberts Road to be resurfaced

The road surface along St Huberts Road in Great Harwood is being resurfaced after a lengthy campaign by residents and Councillors. Work should be completed by the end of March and will improve a section of highway which has been problematic for some time.

Cllr Ciaran Wells said, "This is excellent news for Great Harwood residents who have been campaigning to get the road resurfaced. It has taken four years to secure but I'm glad we're finally seeing these improvements."

Hyndburn Residents to feel the effects of the bedroom tax

Church & Milnshaw Labour councillors this week have called on Central Government to condemn the unfair Bedroom tax which will hit residents living in social housing in the Hyndburn Area. It is estimated that over 700 homes will be affected in this unfair tax.Councillor Paul Cox has today seconded a motion to Full Council, 21st of March 2012, which highlights how vulnerable people are being hit and calls on the council to examine the measures they are putting in place to support local people.

David Cameron’s unfair and incompetent Bedroom Tax will hit, on a national scale, over 660,000 households, two thirds of them home to someone with a disability at exactly the same time as the
government gives a massive £100,000 tax cut to 13,000 millionaires.
Milnshaw Councillor Paul Cox said: “David Cameron’s Bedroom Tax will hammer families in Milnshaw and Church already struggling to make
ends meet, and could actually risk costing local tax-payers a fortune in higher private rents and covering the cost of driving people out of their homes.

Fellow Milnshaw Councillor, and Lancashire County Council candidate for Accrington North, Clare Pritchard added “Two thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, and the families of soldiers and foster parents could possibly still be also hit. But thankfully thanks to public pressure this could, as yet, be avoided. Yet at the same time prisoners get off and millionaires are getting a massive tax cut. How can that be right?”

Everyone agrees the welfare bill needs to come down, but as a result of David Cameron’s economic failure the Government is now set to spend £13bn more on welfare than he had planned because of they are totally failing to get Britain moving again.

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That’s why both Church ans Milnshaw councillors are calling for a tough but fair compulsory jobs guarantee. that would offer anyone who has been out of work for more than two years a real job – one that they would be required to take, no ifs and no buts.

Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair and that works, not more chaos and confusion from David Cameron. His Bedroom Tax is unfair and in total disarray. He should now admit they he has got this horribly wrong and think again – before it’s too late.

Great Harwood Community Clean Up

Great Harwood Area Council have teamed up with Lancashire Constabulary to hold a Community Clean Up on Saturday 16th March from 10.00am until 12.00pm. HBC and the local police are calling on all members of the local community to come along and help to improve the area.

Skips and equipment will be provided at Hameldon View, Princess Street and Park Street. The local Councillors will be in attendance to lend a hand and all help is welcomed.

People Power

People Power is the name of a new Collective energy switching scheme for Lancashire.  It is a community energy scheme powered by your local Council.

Collective energy schemes bring together people who want to switch providers into one 'auction'. Energy providers then bid for their business by offering the best available prices. The more people who join the collective scheme, the better a deal everybody gets.

Based on the experience of other collective energy switching schemes, residents could save up to £250 per year by switching energy suppliers through a collective energy switching scheme.

Residents can sign up free and with no obligation to tell us they are interested in switching suppliers to save money .

Simply visit www.peoplepower.co.uk  before 8th April 2013 and enter your details and energy usage (you will need a copy of your energy bills to hand).

Whilst registration is easiest online, Hyndburn people who don't have e-mail access can sign up at Scaitcliffe House, Ormerod Street, Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.00pm.

There will also be sign up roadshows in the community from 10.00am to 2.00pm on the following dates at the venues listed -

Great Harwood - next to the Clock Tower on 15 March 2013
Oswaldtwistle - next to the Co-Op on 20 March 2013
Accrington Town Centre - on Broadway on 22 March 2013

Alternatively, you can call the Council on 01254 388 111 for more information, or to register over the telephone.

Furthermore, one email address can be used five times to allow for additional family members, friends or neighbours with no internet or email accessibility.

Cabinet approves £23,000 extra for dog waste services

At a recent Cabinet meeting, the ruling Labour group at HBC agreed to spend an extra £23,000 on dog waste services across the borough. This extra money will be funded by increasing the savings target on the Corporate Vacancy Management by the same amount.

Cllr Ken Moss, who has pushed a campaign to try and address dog fouling, welcomed the news at Full Council and said, 'This has been a topic close to my heart since I was first elected to the Council and it is by far the biggest social problem that I receive complaints about. With help from information from residents we have managed to increase fines by a significant percentage but there are still thoughtless dog owners out there and I am grateful to the Cabinet for allocating extra funding to help to tackle the situation.'

Cabinet - 13th March 2013

The next meeting of the Cabinet (the senior members of HBC) will take place on Wednesday 13th March at 2.00pm. This is a public meeting and residents are welcome to come and view proceedings from the seating area.

A full set of papers and the agenda can be viewed here:

Cabinet - 13th March 2013

County Council Election 2013 - Accrington West

Campaigning continues apace in Accrington West for Cllr Munsif Dad (pictured here with Cllr Pam Barton) who is standing to take the County Council seat for Labour. Cllr Dad is currently Deputy Leader of Hyndburn Borough Council and portfolio holder for Recycling and Green Issues.

The election will take place on May 2nd 2013 and if you wish to contact Munsif with any queries then please use the details under the 'Your Councillors' tab on the homepage of this blog.

Oswaldtwistle Area Council - 6th March 2013

The next meeting of Oswaldtwistle Area Council will take place on Wednesday 6th March at the Civic Arts Centre at 7.00pm. This is a public meeting and County Council candidate Cllr Colette McCormack will be in attendance with Cllr Bill Pinder to answer any questions on local issues.

The Bedroom Tax explained

The Labour Party has issued a press pack detailing the forthcoming 'Bedroom Tax' to make it easier to understand and outline the salient points.

The government will cut housing benefit for people with a spare room in their social or council let home, despite the DWP impact assessment acknowledging that there is a shortage of smaller properties for tenants to move to. The measure will cost an estimated 660,000 people an average of £728 per year.  In England, the northwest region is hardest hit, with 43% of Housing Benefit claimants affected by this new tax.


Who will be hit?

• Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone who is disabled.
• The families of young serviceman away from home to serve their country will be hit.
• Foster families will be hit, even if they have foster children in their ‘spare room’.
• 220,000 families with children will be hit by the tax. 
• One-third of the households hit are families with children.
• Prisoners sentenced to 6 months or less will be let off.
• The DWP admit that there are not enough smaller properties for families to move to, yet the bedroom tax will still hit households that don’t have the option to move.

Key points to consider:

• Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the government admits this botched plan won’t solve under-occupancy and it may even cost more than it saves.
• The government is hitting households with the bedroom tax despite admitting there aren’t enough smaller properties for tenants to move to.
• The government expects families to pay extra rather than move house which will hit low income working families, disabled people and families of soldiers who are serving their country. 
• At the same time the government is giving the richest in society a £3 billion tax cut.
• If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation the policy could cost more than it saves.

Labour’s alternative:

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That’s why Labour is calling for a tough but fair Compulsory Jobs Guarantee. This would offer anyone who has been out of work for more than two years a real job, one that they would be required to take, no ifs and no buts.

Great Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair and that works, not divisive, nasty and misleading smears from an out of touch and failing government.

Labour forced votes on the Welfare Reform Bill to introduce safeguards into the Bedroom Tax that would have stopped anyone from being affected unless they refused, for no good reason, an offer of appropriate accommodation nearby.

Labour’s proposal would have helped to solve under-occupancy, without making people homeless or pushing them into expensive private rented accommodation, which will cost the taxpayer more.

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones said, “Two thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, and he is hitting families of soldiers serving our country who will have to find extra money for their son or daughter’s bedroom, and foster families helping children in need of a home. This isn’t about tough choices, it’s about the wrong choices and at exactly the same time as the Bedroom Tax comes into effect David Cameron is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year.“ 

Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said, “Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the bedroom tax is crazy. Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith have been forced to admit that it is impossible for their plans to solve under-occupancy because there aren’t enough smaller homes for families to move to. The Bedroom Tax is now in total disarray. Ministers must now admit they have got this horribly wrong and think again – before it’s too late.”

County Council Election 2013 - Accrington North

Cllr Clare Pritchard has been canvassing in Milnshaw and Church (aided by fellow councillors Paul Cox and Joan Smith) ahead of the County Council elections on 2nd May.

Clare is Deputy Leader of Hyndburn Borough Council and portfolio holder for Regeneration and Housing. This has led to her being on various BBC News programmes over the past 12 months, particularly with regard to extensive work in Accrington town centre and the Woodnook area. She hopes to win the County Council seat to further enhance her work in the area.

Cllr Pritchard can be contacted through the 'Your Councillors' tab on the homepage of this blog.

No rise in Hyndburn Borough Council Tax in 2013

At Hyndburn’s Council meeting on Thursday evening, Council Leader, Cllr Miles Parkinson, announced that Hyndburn’s element of Council Tax would not rise for 2013/14.

Cllr Parkinson said; “In these difficult economic times we don’t want to add to the pressure Hyndburn people are already experiencing and so there will be no rise in the Hyndburn element of Council Tax.  This is the second year we haven’t increased it and we expect to be able to maintain no increases for the next two years.”

At the meeting Cllr Parkinson also announced that the Council had made over £1.2m of savings, mainly from improvements in efficiencies and better ways of working have been generated ahead of the Budget.  This is 10% saving on the Council’s overall budget.

Cllr Parkinson also said; “ Despite the financial pressures we have set money aside to assist the most needy with money to help deal with the major changes on  council tax benefits and agreed to a pan Lancashire funding scheme to help the victims of domestic violence. We are also maintaining our commitment to invest in the local community and the future of Hyndburn with a wide ranging capital programme of over £6.3m, including over £4m earmarked to support critical changes to Woodnook and our poor housing stock in general.

We are also supporting two major funding bids to improve leisure and community facilities in Great Harwood at Lyndon Playing Fields and at Milnshaw Park for an all-weather play facility. This year we will also be progressing a Heritage Lottery Bid to provide a major uplift of Blackburn Road Town Centre area to improve the buildings and shopping along the crucial high street in Hyndburn.”

Cllr Parkinson concluded “We also intend to continue to reduce our debts whenever possible and to continue on our quest to reduce the overall costs of the Council and improve our value for money during the year.”

The Hyndburn Labour group have also managed to reduce the amount of debt inherited from Cllr Peter Britcliffe's Conservative administration from around £12.9m in May 2011 to approximately £11.2m. Further reductions in this debt remain a priority in order to curtail the amount of outgoings in interest payments.

Grotto boost for Mayor's Charity

Cabinet Member for Town Centres, Cllr Clare Pritchard, today presented over £276 in funds raised from Santa’s Grotto last Christmas to the Mayor's Charities.

Cllr Pritchard, who also helped Santa in the grotto during the festive season, said; “Santa’s grotto was a huge success, with lots of families visiting from Hyndburn and further afield.  It’s an added bonus that we were also able to raise £276 for local good causes as well.”

Mayor, Cllr John Broadley, receiving the cheque, said; “It’s good to know that money raised from such enjoyable events will go to benefit local people.”