Improvements to local beauty spot

A fantastic walk in the countryside, with views overlooking Accrington has been made even easier now with improvements carried out to the paths in the south of Peel Park. Over 1700 linear metres of refurbished paths link up with improved paths to the summit of the Coppice, which were completed in 2009, allowing more people to enjoy the countryside and stunning elevated views from the edge of east of Accrington.

As part of this work, funded by the Forestry Commission and Lancashire Environmental Fund, path improvements have also been completed in the grounds of which once stood Arden Hall. The site of the old hall became the location of a recent archaeological dig and you can see the findings on the Council’s website at www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk.

Deputy Leader, Cllr Clare Pritchard, who is Chair of Friends of Arden Hall and the Coppice said; “The new paths through the woodland at Arden Hall have massively improved this area and make it so easy for people to enjoy a leisurely walk and enjoy the wonderful countryside. We’re looking forward to seeing similar work carried out later this year, following years of investment from different agencies and now making this well-loved local beauty spot more accessible for everyone to enjoy.”

Wildflowers have been sown on any disturbed ground left by the works, by volunteers lead by Prospects Foundation and funded by the Green Partnership Awards.

Similar path improvements will be carried out later this year and early 2014 to complete the path network at Peel Park and woodland improvement work is also planned to improve the area for local wildlife.

Amazing Edibles at Tatton Park

An ‘Amazing Edibles’ display, the fruit of many local people’s labours, has been proudly on show at RHS Flower Show in Tatton Park, which ran to 28th July.

The Amazing Edibles’ display is an allotment and vegetable exhibition showcasing the hard work of many local volunteers and groups, working under the banner of Hyndburn Federation of Allotments.

For many months volunteers from organisations including Baxenden Allotments & Garden Society, Church Prospects Panel, Clayton le Moors Prospects Panel, Hyndburn Green Spaces Forum, Incredible Edibles Accrington, Prospects Foundation, One Planet Planters, National Veg society Lancashire District association, Sandy Lane Gardening Group, Milnshaw Allotments and the Council have been working together in Gatty Park greenhouses  and allotments across the Borough, growing vegetables and edible flowers for their show garden at RHS Tatton, with their progress closely followed by the BBC.

Cath Holmes, Chair of Hyndburn Federation of Allotments,  said; “It’s been a fabulous experience  and a big thank you to everyone, who has given their time, support  and expertise to the project, working together has enabled everything to run smoothly to produce something  everyone involved can be proud of. “

The garden was sponsored by Barnfield Construction, Hyndburn former County Councillor Ciaran Wells with a local member grant , Hyndburn former County Councillors Ciaran Wells and Graham Jones with  local member grants, Hyndburn County Councillor Miles Parkinson with a Local member Grant,  and Sign It, Link A Board, also Funding From Green Partnership Awards, Hyndburn Green Spaces Forum, and help in kind from Hyndburn Council’s Parks Team.

Satisfaction levels rise

A resident survey attached to the recent recycling collection calendar, shows that satisfaction with street cleanliness continues to increase and now stands at 86%.  The news comes after the Council scooped two awards for clean streets, when it was awarded 5 Stars and a Gold Award in the small local authority category at the national Clean Britain Awards last year.

1400 residents took part in the survey, answering questions on a range of issues including recycling, grey and green bin collections and street cleaning, with improvements in all areas apart from the condition of litterbins, which stayed the same.

The survey shows that satisfaction levels with dry recycling collections is at 96%, residual (grey bin) collections is 91% and green waste collections is 79%.

Cllr Paul Cox Cabinet Member for Environmental Issues said; “These results back up the recent Clean Britain Awards and show that our street cleaning, waste and recycling crews do a great job, day in, day out, in all weathers collecting waste and keeping our streets clean and tidy.  As always we’ll use the results to enhance the service and an example of this is the future installation of around 100 additional dog bins across all wards within the Borough.”

Free WiFi now available at Accrington Market Hall

Shoppers browsing for a bargain in Accrington’s historic Market Hall can now also browse the internet there, with the availability of free Wi-Fi.

Cllr Clare Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Markets, said; “In today’s day and age free Wi–Fi is something which many businesses offer to encourage more custom and many customers now expect this as an added service. There are already many reasons for people to visit the Market Hall - to shop, to drink and eat in the range of food outlets and to see the interesting local history exhibitions there. The offer of free Wi-Fi also now gives our visitors the added value of being able to access the internet on their mobile device whilst visiting the Market Hall.”

Wi-Fi is available in the Market Hall without a password.

Springhill: Pam Barton chosen as 2014 election candidate

Cllr Pam Barton has been chosen as the Labour candidate for Springhill ward in next year's local elections. Pam is the sitting Councillor in Springhill alongside Cllr Munsif Dad (Labour) and if you would like to speak to her on any issues please call 01254 385824 or 07792298545.

Baxenden: Animals in Art exhibition at Haworth Art Gallery

The latest exhibition at the Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington, which opens on 27th July ‘Animals in Art’ will feature on radio 2BR 99.8FM and The Bee107FM every day between Monday 22nd July to Saturday 27th July – complete with sound effects!

The radio advertising campaign is part of the Pennine Lancashire Museum group marketing plan which the Haworth Art Gallery is a member. The advertisement includes great sound effects of elephants, lions and parrots and invites visitors to come along to the Haworth and ‘Get face to face with some of the biggest and most dangerous beasts in the world!’

Gallery Co-ordinator, Yvonne Robins, states, ‘We are all going ‘Animal Crackers’ here at the Haworth! We would like to invite everyone to come along and join our very own ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and view the stunning work created by the internationally renowned members of the Association of Animal Artists. The artwork that is on show in ‘Animals in Art’ is of an exceptionally high standard, two members of which have won prestigious prizes. Julie Cross has won the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013 (world mammals category), a title she also won last year and also on show is work by Heather Irvine, the 2013 winner of the prestigious Christopher Parsons Award for Artistic Excellence from The Wildlife Art Society International.
Not only is the Haworth’s exhibition being featured on the radio but the launch of the exhibition on Saturday 27th July will be filmed by ‘Splash of Paint’ productions for Sky and Free Sat. television as well as on-line viewing! Yvonne states ‘It is going to be a fabulous family fun day on Saturday 27th July. As well as the amazing exhibition we shall also be having family mask-making workshops with Susan Watson and tea, coffee and cake will be available in the tea room – everyone is welcome to join us’.

For more information contact Yvonne Robins on 01254 233782.

Great Harwood: Farmers' Market August 2013

This popular Farmers Market, which was recently runner up in the Association of Town Centre Management awards, is back in Great Harwood on the town square Sunday 4th August.  Featuring lots of independent food stalls ranging from cheese, jams, chutneys meats, fish, scrumptious cakes and pies plus a range of cheeses, and also locally produced beer.

Cllr Clare Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Town Centres, said; “The market is fast becoming established on the Farmers Market calendar with over 30 stalls and lots of people from across the region coming along each month.  Please come along on 4th August and enjoy this traditional community event.”

Nick Gaskell, of Gaskells Motors said; “It’s wonderful to see the market gathering momentum and becoming established on the Farmers Market calendar.  It’s also great the market is raising lots of cash for local good causes, so please come and see us on the 4th August on Towngate."

If you’d like to book a stall visit http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/farmersmarket.   For more information call Rob Grigorjevs, Town centre Manager on 01254 388111 or email rob.grigorjevs@hyndburnbc.gov.uk.

Hyndburn benefit cheats targeted

Cllr Ken Moss is helping to launch a new drive against benefit fraud as the number of reports of suspected claimants rises. Hyndburn Borough Council has taken a much more aggressive stance against non-payment of Council Tax and recovery of fraudulent benefit claims which has resulted in 9 prosecutions, 16 official cautions and 1 administrative penalty since the start of the 2013/14 financial year, totalling £49,200 since April 2013.

An HBC spokesman said, "Reporting benefit cheats can inadvertently help the fraudster as the quicker we catch them the less likely they are to end up in court. They will still be dealt with and they will still have to pay all of it back. We have a Benefit Fraud prosecution policy with guidelines setting out levels above which Court is usually automatic. Even without court we still either issue them with an official caution for the offence or and administrative penalty which is a fine – the choice of which if these is applied depends on the circumstances of the case and whether the fraudster is cooperative or not."

Cllr Moss said, "We have a large number of cases that we are dealing with and a number of Hyndburn residents will be finding letters arriving soon. However, despite this we still need help from residents. Don’t assume someone else will tip us off, if you have a suspicion tell us then we can stop them from stealing from the public purse. People can do this in confidence, your details will never be passed on to the fraudster. Help us to stop these thieves and keep your Council tax bill down."

The Fraud Hotline 01254 380240 is available 24 hours a day to leave details, in addition to the Council website’s 'Report a Fraud' page:

HBC Benefit Fraud online form

Profile: Councillor Joan Smith

Cllr Joan Smith is one of the two representatives for Church ward and has recently been made Deputy Leader of Hyndburn Borough Council. She is also portfolio holder for Finance and is on the following committees at HBC:

• Area Working Panel (Chair) 
• Cabinet  -  Deputy Leader of the Council (Resources) 
• Church and Milnshaw Community Group 
• Leader's Policy Development Board 
• Learning and Development Panel (Chair) 
• Local Joint Negotiating Consultative Committee (Chair) 
• Management Review Committee

Joan also sits on the following outside bodies:

• East Lancashire Moneyline (IPS) Ltd 
• Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Council for Voluntary Service Board of Trustees 
• Hyndburn Three Tier Forum 
• North West Employers, Manchester 
• William Blythe (Church Works) Liaison Group 

Any resident can contact Joan by phoning 01254 398 028 or 07954 580 713 or emailing cllrjoansmith@googlemail.com

Dogs in hot cars

With the current spell of hot weather set to stay with Great Britain for some time, a campaign has been launched by Dogs Today Magazine to remind people not to leave their dogs in cars, even with the windows down. An experiment conducted recently saw temperatures inside a car with all four windows open rise from 29 to 50 degrees Celcius within half an hour.

Cllr Tim O'Kane, Chair of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, is championing the campaign and urges people to look at the dedicated web page for details of exactly what happens in cars during hot weather:

http://www.dogstodaymagazine.co.uk/dontcookyourdog/

All the fun of the fair in Accrington!

It’s all the fun of the fair in Accrington next week, when rides and stalls will be installed on Broadway and tribute cartoon characters will be out and about there during Friday and Saturday to keep the younger visitors amused.

The funfair rides will be in place from Wednesday 24th July and on Friday 26th July and Saturday 27th July tribute cartoon characters, including Peppa Pig, will be appearing at intervals between 12 noon and 5pm, to meet and greet local youngsters.

Councillor Clare Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Town Centres said: “We want as many people as possible to come into Accrington Town Centre to enjoy this character fun day and funfair. It’s a great way for families to start the summer holidays, everyone is welcome, so please come down and join in.”

Solar panels fitted to HBC will save money

Solar panels are being installed at Scaitcliffe House Council Offices, as part of the Council's drive to cut costs and energy usage. The panels are expected to save not only around 16 tonnes of CO2 each year, but will also make the Council around £60,000 over a period of twenty years, from an initial investment of £24,000.

Installation of the panels are the latest of a raft of energy saving measures at the Council including energy efficient lighting in Council offices, use of electric vans, rationalising use of printers and introduction of power management ICT software, collecting rainwater from building roofs for use in street cleaning and grounds maintenance, along with the introduction of electronic payslips and a Cycle to Work scheme.

The Council’s work to reduce its Carbon Footprint has been recognised by scooping a number of ‘Green’ Awards including the Most Sustainable Local Authority in the UK; the Energy Saving Trust’s Motorvate Awards and the Green Apple Environmental best practice award.

Council Leader, Cllr Miles Parkinson, said “As a Council, we're keen to reduce our impact on the environment wherever possible. The installation of solar panels and our other energy saving measures are part of this and the good news is that the solar panels will save not only energy, but also money in the long term.”

Superfast Lancashire broadband

The Superfast Lancashire Business Support Centre was formally opened on Tuesday 25th June. Based on Leyland Business Park, the centre provides facilities available to Lancashire based companies to help them maximise the business benefits of superfast broadband, by providing a range of courses and practical experience. The centre was opened by the chairman of the LEP, Edwin Booth, the BT national director for broadband, Bill Murphy and the leader of the county council, Councillor Jennifer Mein.

Superfast Lancashire is the council's initiative with BT to make the facility available to households across Lancashire. At the moment around a third of homes can't access broadband at anything other than pedestrian speeds (1-2mbs). Our £130 million initiative (funded by BT, Broadband Delivery UK, European Commission, the county council and the two unitaries) will enable 97% of all homes across the pan-Lancashire area to access broadband at speeds in excess of 30mbs by 2015.

For further information you can look at the website www.superfastlancashire.com.

Oswaldtwistle: Cllr Colette McCormack raising awareness for older people

Immanuel ward Councillor, Colette McCormack, has been at various events over the past few weeks to promote the issues faced by older people.

Cllr McCormack said, "I have attended the National Pensioners Conference in Blackpool on the 19th and 20th June where a young man named Josh from the NUS gave a speech and vowed to get them all on board with the pensioners campaign. I attended the Older Peoples Executive Committee on 27th June as I am a member and I am in Cheshire and Chester Council for the Older Peoples Champion meeting in July.
I will be bringing all the information and best practice back to Hyndburn to share and raise awareness.
One of the things I would like to push in Hyndburn is the Dignity Charter and this will go hand in hand with the Dignity Code for Older People that we have adopted in Hyndburn. This was brought up at NPC and most councils will be trying to push this."

Oswaldtwistle: Highways issues resolved

Oswaldtwistle Labour Councillors Colette McCormack and Bill Pinder have recently been working on highway issues at the junction of Frederick Street and Union Road, Cherry Crescent, Yew Tree Drive and Hawthorn Ave, amongst many more.

Highways issues are a County Council matter but Colette and Bill have been taking a more proactive approach and addressing these issues directly as they arise.

Rishton: Councillors to host bingo afternoon for village charities

Cllrs Ken Moss and Clare Cleary are to host a regular series of bingo afternoons in aid of the local village charity pot. Rishton Charities is made up of three separate funds and interest generated on the capital is used to help residents in need every year around Christmas.

The two Councillors already host monthly bingo afternoons with the Rishton Festival committee at The People's Centre and this has helped to pay for a substantial part of the administrative costs of hosting the annual event. This second monthly bingo session will be held at Rishton Free Gardeners Club on Parker Street and is hoped to raise a little extra money to put into the Rishton Charities pot. Clare Cleary will be baking fresh cakes for the event while Ken Moss calls the numbers.

Cllr Moss said, "There are many fundraising activities across the village every year but we never actually do anything for our own charity. We have taken the decision that we should also do something to look after the residents right on our doorstep. The previous bingo afternoons have been a great success and if we only generate £50 a time it is £50 more than we had before."

The first Rishton Charity Bingo starts at 2.00pm on Saturday 13th July at Rishton Free Gardeners Club and both members and non-members are welcome. The cost is £5 for six games plus £1 for a brew and a cake. The bar will also be open for refreshments.

Labour's position on shale gas

Over the past couple of weeks there have been a number of government announcements regarding shale gas extraction (or 'fracking') and the potential impact on the UK's energy supplies of extracting shale gas. The conclusion was that the government believe it to be safe and also a tremendous opportunity to generate a significant amount of gas from under Earth's surface. It's evident that more is known about Lancashire than anywhere else in the UK, as exploration is well advanced.

At this stage we are some way from understanding the scale of what is underneath Lancashire but it's estimated that reserves in the Bowland Basin region, which stretches from Cheshire to Yorkshire and includes Lancashire, could be in excess of 1,300 trillion cubic feet. The UK as a whole uses around three trillion cubic feet a year.

Since the recent news reports of possible shale gas extraction in Hyndburn, Leader of the Council Miles Parkinson and Graham Jones MP have been inundated with requests for further information. Nothing firm is in place at the moment but the Labour party have been asked for their stance on the issue.

Labour has always said Shale Gas extraction should only go ahead if it is shown to be safe and environmentally sound. If the Government believes that is the case then we will look carefully at that against the six clear conditions we have set, but the idea that this form of gas extraction can have the same impact here in the UK as it has had on gas prices in the United States is considered wishful thinking by most experts.

Questions are being put to the relevant ministers:

"The Government is consulting on tax incentives for shale gas production. Does the Minister not agree that before we discuss the economics of unconventional gas the Government should first address the legitimate environmental and safety concerns?"

"The Chancellor, who increasingly determines energy policy these days, recently announced the creation of the Office for Unconventional Gas. Will the Minister ensure that one of this new body’s first acts is to ensure that companies moving from exploratory work to extraction must formally advise local authorities and community groups?"

We must ensure we have an affordable, secure, low-carbon energy supply and gas will have a role in our future energy mix, especially as we move away from coal-fired power stations. It must be alongside an expansion of renewable energy capacity and investment in carbon capture and storage but under the coalition Government investment in clean energy has more than halved and the Government has created huge uncertainty by dithering and failing to commit to a 2030 decarbonisation target.

Our six conditions for the restoration of Shale Gas “fracking”

1. Mandated disclosure of chemicals used in fracking and assessment by regulator of their potential environmental impact and only non-hazardous chemicals to be used in fracking mix.
2. Must be a full assessment of the well integrity to ensure casing and borehole not susceptible to leaking; this must meet current industry standards for other types of drilling.
3. Micro-seismic monitoring of the area prior to any drilling to determine what the potential impact would be on local area.
4. Full assessment of impact of water use on local community, including assessment of how much of the water will be reused or recycled.
5. Assessment of groundwater methane levels prior to fracking.
6. Should be at least a full year’s monitoring of all of the above before any drilling can proceed.

Cllr Miles Parkinson has requested that Hyndburn Council contact Cuadrilla and invite them to give a presentation regarding Shale Gas (Bowland Basin) to the Full Council in September. Hopefully they will be able to attend and (as with all presentations to the Council) residents will be able to submit questions along with Councillors.

Petition regarding Dangerous Dogs

The Hyndburn Labour group, in conjunction with Graham Jones MP, are circulating a petition to the Government for stricter laws regarding dangerous dogs in Great Britain. Hard copies of the petition are available to sign at the office of the MP on Abbey Street in Accrington:

To the House of Commons,

The petition of Haslingden and Hyndburn residents declares that seven children and two adults have been killed by dogs since 2006 and that 6,000 admissions to hospital are caused by dog attacks each year leaving many victims scarred for life; notes that the introduction of Dog Control Notices is supported by many organisations including the Kennel Club, the Dogs Trust, RSPCA, Royal College of Nursing, British Veterinary Association and the Communications Workers Union; and believes that the Government’s current proposals on dangerous dogs do not go far enough. The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to amend the law to cover attacks on people and animals on both private and public property, to enforce Dog Control Orders, to introduce Dog Control Notices giving the authorities the power to intervene, to introduce the compulsory micro-chipping of all dogs and to promote responsible dog ownership, including training owners and dogs.

Barnfield: Councillor calls

Cllr June Harrison has been making house calls around Barnfield to answer queries from residents, ably assisted by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Miles Parkinson.

If you have any queries you would like answering in your area then please find the contact details for your nearest Labour representative under the 'Your Councillors' tab on the homepage of this blog.

Barnfield: Friends of Arden Hall

Barnfield Cllr June Harrison has been working together with the Friends of Arden Hall to restore the gate at the top of Plantation Street. Residents have been looking after the corner garden there and all the flowers are now in bloom to give a spectacular display.

Great Harwood: Farmers Market - 7th July 2013

Great Harwood Farmers Market, run by the Council in Partnership with Gaskell Motor Bodies, is going from strength to strength, with more stalls and more visitors coming along each month to Towngate.

The next market, where once again all the proceeds will go to charity, is set to take place on 7th July at Towngate and will feature  a whole host of stalls selling a wide range of locally sourced products including meats, fish, scrumptious cakes, and pies plus a range of cheeses, plus plants and artisan jewellery, to name a few.

Cllr Clare Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Town Centres, said; “The market is proving really popular now with more stalls exhibiting and lots of people visiting the event each month.  It’s also raised over £800 for local charities, so please come along on 7th July and enjoy this traditional community event.”

Nick Gaskell of Gaskells Motors said; “The Farmers Market is getting a real buzz around it now and people have been telling us that it’s great to see the Town Square so busy with such a variety of stalls.”

If you’d like to book a stall  visit http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/farmersmarket.   For more information call Rob Grigorjevs, Town centre Manager on 01254 388111 or email rob.grigorjevs@hyndburnbc.gov.uk.

Milnshaw: Labour Councillors organise successful Skip Amnesty on Laneside estateAccrington

Saturday the 29th of June saw the first of two skip amnesties arranged for Milnshaw take place, the next being the 27th of July on the Milnshaw estate.The skip drives were organised by both the labour ward Councillors, Paul Cox & Clare Pritchard, with funding obtained from the Church & Milnshaw Community Group. The skips, located on both Ribblesdale Ave and Thornyholme Road were a chance for local residents to get rid of any unwanted rubbish. 

Head of Enviromental Services and Milnshaw Councillor Paul Cox said "these skip days are a real chance for the local community to get rid of that clutter that's has accumulated and just allows us to give the area a good clean"  Chair of Laneside Residents Association Mr Malclom Sommerville added "it was really good to see everybody out and through the course of the day we ended up filling the skips three times over"

The skip amnestys were also supported by Hyndburn Homes, working in cooperation with both Hyndburn Borough Council and Laneside Residents Association, with letter drops and posters produced to advertise the day. All three organisations hope that this type of connected working can produce results that see Laneside estate remain a vibrant part of the Church & Milnshaw community. 

Cllr Clare Pritchard stated, "In Milnshaw we have acted on reidents requsts to offer a skip drive for this area however residents should be aware that Hyndburn Council operates a bulky waste removal service free of charge simply ring 01254 388111 to have your domestic items removed"

Central: Weekly Surgeries

Cllrs Abdul Khan (pictured) and Mohammad Ayub are conducting surgeries from Monday to Thursday between 10.00am and 1.00pm for any resident who has an issue they would like help with.

Cllr Ayub can be contacted on 07866 472011 and Cllr Khan can be contacted on 07773 877245.

Profile: Councillor Tim O'Kane

Cllr Tim O'Kane is one of the two representatives for the Clayton-le-Moors ward and was first elected to HBC during the 1990s. He has been appointed to the following committees at HBC this year:

• Audit Committee  
• Clayton and Altham Community Development Board  
• Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Chair) 
• Health and Communities Working Group 
• Judicial Committee (Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing)

He also sits on the following outside bodies:

• Clayton-le-Moors Old People's Welfare Committee 
• Clayton-le-Moors Youth Club 
• Hyndburn Homes Industrial and Provident Society Limited Board 
• Hyndburn Homes Repairs Limited Board 
• Lancashire County Council Health Scrutiny Committee 
• Lancashire Waste Partnership (Substitute Representative) 

Cllr O'Kane said, "I have been reappointed as Chair of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which involves having a close look at issues concerning health, education and policing. I am also the Council's representative on the Health Scrutiny Committee at County Hall in Preston. The main health issue we are tackling at the moment is the transition to Clinical Commissioning Groups against a backdrop of privatisation of the NHS. In education, the hot potato is the expectations of schools opting for academy status then finding the funding not matching the promises. On policing, it is how to maintain manning levels against a backdrop of massive cuts in funding and with a change in operating procedures brought about by the introduction of the new police commissioners. Separately, I am trying to adapt the Community Roadwatch scheme to improve road safety, particularly enforcing the 20mph speed limits.I have also been reappointed onto Hyndburn Homes board where the immediate problem is implementation of the bedroom tax which is causing major headaches throughout the borough."

Anyone wishing to contact Tim can do so on 07865 684412 or by emailing tim.okane@hyndburnbc.gov.uk

HBC budget to be 60% lower than 2010

Following the recent spending review outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, the Labour group have been examining the figures and are calculating the ongoing effects for Hyndburn.

Cllr Joan Smith, portfolio holder for Finance at HBC, said, "The Chancellor's finance statement last Wednesday informed Local  Government that there would be further cuts in budgets for 2015/16. This means that budgets will have reduced by 60% since 2010. This year Hyndburn was one of 7 Local Authorities who had the largest cuts in percentage terms in funding from the government and it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain high quality services in the face of the cuts. However the Labour administration is committed to providing the residents of Hyndburn with well-run front line services."

A BBC News report on the statement from Downing Street can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23053693

Profile: Councillor Chris Fisher

Cllr Chris Fisher is one of the two HBC Councillors who represent Altham and he was first elected to the Borough Council in 2012. Altham is the only ward with a parish council in Hyndburn and that is chaired by Cllr Rennie Pinder, who is not a member of HBC. Cllr Fisher has been appointed on the following committees at HBC:

• Clayton and Altham Community Development Board 
• Judicial Committee (Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing)  (Chair) 
• Licensing Committee 
• Licensing Sub-Committee 
• Planning Committee

He also sits on the following outside bodies:

• Clayton-le-Moors Old People's Welfare Committee 
• PATROL Adjudication Joint Committee

Chris said, "I am very excited about my recent appointment as the Chair of the Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Judicial committee. I have a busy year ahead and it is my maxim to inculcate the current policy and demonstrate our commitment to providing safe and compliant taxis and private hire in the borough."

Cllr Fisher can be contacted on 07776 363843 or by emailing chris.fisher@hyndburnbc.gov.uk