Former Councillor Brian Walmsley passes away

Former Councillor Brian Walmsley has passed away at the age of 74. Brian was Conservative member for St Andrews ward since 1998 until 2012, when he lost his seat to Cllr Bill Pinder. He continued to serve HBC as a co-optee on the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee and was made an Alderman of the Borough last year.

The Labour group would like to pass on their condolences to his friends and family. The funeral will take place on Wednesday 15th May at 1.45pm in St Paul's Church, Oswaldtwistle, followed by a service at 3pm at Accrington Crematorium.

A Lancashire Telegraph news article can be found here:

Tributes to former Oswaldtwistle councillor

Gatty park unveils new bowling shelter

Bowlers at Gatty Park are now set to benefit from the construction of a new bowling shelter. The shelter is the first in the history of the green and something the local bowling community have been requesting for several years. Church ward Councillor Joan Smith stated " the parks bowlers have been asking for some protection from the elements for many years, without much success, so it was really rewarding to find some funding and finally give the Church residents something they needed"

Cllr Smith added, "I do understand that this project has taken a little longer than we hoped but sometimes we are faced with unforeseen issues, however the shelter is now ready for use and will hopefully be a valued asset to the park"

The funding for the shelter was secured through Church & Milnshaw Community group, the former area council now placed in community ownership by the councils labour leaders, which looks to help local groups in the Church and Milnshaw areas. Fellow Church ward councillor, Mr John Broadley, added that this project was a great example of how a local community group, working in partnership with Hyndburn Borough Council, can listen to residents needs and act to achieve something good for the ward.

Church & Milnshaw Community Group (CMCG) has worked on several other projects in the area. This bowling shelter is just one of the achievements it has completed. The current chair of the group also stated "the group is happy to help projects such as this. We do offer a small amount of funding for local constituted groups".

If you wish to be considered for funding please feel free to contact either your local ward Councillors or email Church & Milnshaw community group direct at

cmcgroup@live.co.uk

Lancashire County Council - No Overall Control

When the county council went to the polls last Thursday, May 2, in its first election since 2009, candidates were competing for all 84 seats. However, the election count for seats on Lancashire County Council ended last Friday without any party securing a clear majority.

No party achieved the 43 seats required to take control of the council and the new political make-up is as follows:

* Labour 39 seats
* Conservative 35 seats
* Liberal Democrat 6 seats
* Independent 3 seats
* Green 1 seat

As no party has a clear majority, the main parties will now need to consider the options for the future political governance of the council. This will be taking place as a priority and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.

The Leader of Lancashire County Council is due to be formally appointed at the next meeting of the full council, which takes place at County Hall on Thursday 23 May.

Newly-elected Labour County Councillors Miles Parkinson, Clare Pritchard, Munsif Dad, Gareth Molineux and Bernard Dawson will be in attendance to help decide with Labour County group Leader, Jenny Mein.

Accrington Town Centre and the Pals Centenary Townscape Heritage Initiative secures Heritage Lottery Fund support

Hyndburn Borough Council has received initial support¹ for a £1.5m Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI)² bid from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the Accrington Town Centre and Pals Centenary project, it was announced today.  The project aims to transform the declining historic retail and commercial gateway into the town centre, along Blackburn Road, culminating in a public realm scheme outside Accrington Town Hall and Market Hall to commemorate the Accrington Pals and the Battle of the Somme.  The scheme will last for 5 years from 2014 and over the next 12 months the Council will be working with property owners along Blackburn Road to identify the improvements that will be undertaken and will be commissioning architects to design the public realm scheme.  The Council is investing an additional £500,000 into the scheme.

Development funding of £25,000 has also been awarded to help the Council progress their plans and over the next 12 months the Council will be fine-tuning the proposals and undertaking initial surveys and estimates.

Accrington is a town with a strong and proud heritage and its fine legacy of mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings are key to its distinct identity.  Building repairs, shopfront restorations and the regeneration of vacant and underused floorspace will enhance the town's key shopping corridor, create a strong backbone of regeneration and support recent and planned investments in the town centre.  Together these works will improve the town centre's economic vitality and viability, complementing the development of Accrington Railway Station, the proposed bus station and the transformation of Accrington Market Hall.

David Welsby, Chief Executive of Hyndburn Borough Council, said: “The Council is committed to securing the future of Accrington Town Centre and this initiative will see the improvement of many attractive buildings along one of its arterial routes and the development of a public realm scheme that will commemorate the Accrington Pals.  Recognising that the square is in the heart of Accrington, the Council will be working with local people and a variety of organisations, including the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, to ensure that these works provide a fitting remembrance of those from the Pals that lost their lives during the First World War.”

As part of the initiative, the Council will be working with the local community to help raise awareness of the towns heritage assets.  There will be opportunities for students from Accrington and Rossendale College to learn from the repair and restoration of historic buildings and working with the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, a variety of community activities will be held to coincide with the recently announced programme of national commemorations of the First World War. 

Sara Hilton, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said “Accrington is a typical Pennine Lancashire town and it would be a real loss if its distinctive character disappeared. By awarding our initial support and some immediate development funding, Hyndburn Borough Council will be able to start progressing plans to reinvigorate the area.  We particularly welcome the proposals around commemorating the Accrington Pals within the public square, leaving a lasting legacy from this vital chapter in the town’s history.” 

Hyndburn Labour Group take 5 of the 6 County Council seats

Counting of votes in the local elections is now complete and Labour have taken five of the six Hyndburn seats in the County Council election, unseating the Conservatives from control in County Hall. The elections results are as follows:

OSWALDTWISTLE

Colette McCormack (Labour) - 1126

Paul Thompson (UKIP) - 1076

Regrettably, Colette lost out to the Conservative candidate, who explicitly forbade that his party's participation in the election count was recorded by the Labour group.

ACCRINGTON WEST

Munsif Dad (Labour) - 2492

Bobby Anwar (UKIP) - 528

ACCRINGTON SOUTH

Bernard Dawson (Labour) - 1231

Alex Ross (Independent) - 63

Kasia Jewell (Green) - 57

Christopher Matthew (UKIP) - 579

ACCRINGTON NORTH

Clare Pritchard (Labour) - 1168

Malcolm Pritchard (Independent) - 925

RISHTON, ALTHAM & CLAYTON-LE-MOORS

Miles Parkinson (Labour) - 1866

Craig Ramplee (UKIP) - 650 

GREAT HARWOOD

Gareth Molineux (Labour) - 1279

Ian Robinson (Independent) - 889

Go To Vote!

Polling stations opened this morning at 7.00am and will remain open until 10.00pm for residents to cast their ballots in the Lancashire County Council elections. The County Councillors are one step up from District Councillors and oversee larger projects which affect the county as well as the borough.

You do not need your polling card to vote, just turn up to your nearest polling station and give your name and address. If you have a postal voting form but have not sent it off then you can take that to a polling station too.

All residents are urged to use their vote as only 23% of people actually take part in local elections and the Hyndburn Labour Group are trying to get this figure up and engage with local people. The count will take place at Hyndburn Sports Centre tomorrow morning and results should be known by lunchtime.

Cllr Colette McCormack - Oswaldtwistle

As the Hyndburn Labour group prepare for a final day of canvassing before polling booths open on Thursday, Cllr Colette McCormack will be out and about in Oswaldtwistle knocking on doors with her team to see any residents who she has missed.

Support for the Labour Party has increased dramatically in Oswaldtwistle over the course of the election campaign and a sizeable number of residents have indicated that they will be voting for Colette tomorrow. Very few people have indicated that they are supporting the Conservatives and main opposition would appear to come from UKIP.

If you would like to speak to Colette before polling day then please get in touch using the contact details of the Your Councillors tab on the homepage of this blog.