Unveiling the Bill Turner Plaque

Labour Councillors and Graham Jones MP were among the gathering of people who attended the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to the memory of local historian Bill Turner.

The plaque was unveiled at Accrington Library in acknowledgement of his work and research into the Accrington Pals.  Bill dedicated a great deal of his time researching the Accrington Pals and used this information to write his book ‘The Accrington Pals’.

His wife and family were in attendance at the event to unveil the plaque which took place on Monday 4th August 2014 in the Richard Ainsworth Room, Accrington Library, St. James St., Accrington.

The short ceremony began at 4.15pm and was introduced by Deputy Mayor Marlene Haworth, with a few words from library manager, Victoria Haworth. After the plaque was unveiled, refreshments were made available in the Lecture Hall.

Great Harwood: Towngate Square re-opens

Sunday August 3rd saw the official re-opening of Great Harwood’s Towngate by County Councillor Gareth Molineux. The Towngate as seen major renovations over the last 12 months with over £250,000 being spent.

Last year The Mercer clock went through a restoration project started by Councillor Molineux and finalised by a partnership with Great Harwood Area Council, Great Harwood Civic society and the national lottery heritage fund.

The market square was introduced at the same time as the the old town hall in 1901 when the Great Harwood urban district council and the towns people commissioned the square followed by the mercer clock 1903 and as seen little investment since.

Councillor Molineux said, “Over the last three years Great Harwood as seen hundreds of thousands of pounds invested in it. the new square opens up the area to create a more usable space for the Sunday farmers market, the civic society's annual charity market and the Christmas lights switch on. These are exciting times, Great Harwood is on the way again and in my opinion as become Hyndburn’s second town once again."

The Town Gate will be in use every first Sunday of the month for the local farmers market. The next event is the civic society's annual charity market on Saturday 23rd August.

Lights Out across Hyndburn

A nationwide 'Lights Out' event will be held this evening at 10.00pm when everyone is encouraged to turn out their lights in remembrance for the start of the World War.

Public lights will be turned out at Towngate in Great Harwood, the War Memorial in Rishton and at Memorial Park and Mercer Park.  In addition, all lights will go out at the Town Hall except for one in the Mayor's parlour.

A public gathering will be held with candles at the War Memorial on Church Street in Accrington from 10.00pm until the last post at 11.00pm.

Leaders Viewpoint - Cllr Ken Moss - August 2014

I was delighted to be given a Cabinet position at the beginning of June, although somewhat trepidatious as I replace outgoing member Ciaran Wells, one of the best Councillors I have worked with. I have spent several weeks getting to know the people that fall within my portfolio but there are so many facets to the job that I feel I have barely scratched the surface. The position covers a wide range of responsibilities from parks and play facilities to sports pitches, public halls, tourism, allotments, art exhibitions and even cemeteries. It has certainly given me plenty to think about and I have spent a lot of time chatting to fellow ward Councillor, Clare Cleary (new portfolio holder for Housing), about our exciting first month in the Cabinet. With all the cuts facing the Council it is obviously going to be a challenge but this has simply given me renewed vigour at HBC and I am looking forward to a busy time ahead.

A recent spell of very wet followed by very hot weather has made grass cutting quite difficult for the work crews but all the green areas are now getting back to the condition they should be in for this time of year. Several members of the bowling community have also contacted me regarding the state of their greens and this too has addressed by the Parks department.

Unfamiliar Ground is a new art display on show at Accrington Library which ran recently. The exhibition brings together the work of three exciting young artists, Chris Agnew, Rebecca King and Bronwen Sleigh, each of whom are challenging the boundaries of traditional printmaking, creating striking pictorial worlds that invite our imaginations to wander. I attended the opening night of the exhibition and was pleased to hear that this is the first in a series of installations coming to Hyndburn, with promising noises from the Arts Council of England for more investment in the area.

Hats off to all the members of the Oswaldtwistle carnival group for a very successful event recently. Over 3,000 people attended the Carnival, arguably the biggest crowd ever seen there, and thanks are due for all those volunteers who worked hard to ensure that Rhyddings Park was left spotless. Stone thieves damaged one of the low park walls just five days beforehand but I am pleased to say that the HBC work crew managed to repair it in time for the carnival.

We had another successful Rishton Festival on 5th July which had a ‘Pride of Britain’ theme. In addition to many varied stalls and wonderful costumes, the ale tent (which I introduced last year) raised £550 for Meningitis Now.

Finally, a word of warning: please do not go swimming in reservoirs and canals. Apart from the fact that the water can often be unsanitary, we have already seen a number of untimely deaths across England due to people getting into difficulty. Don’t risk yourself or your loved ones becoming a Hyndburn statistic.

Hyndburn Labour Councillor Calls

Several of the Hyndburn Labour Councillors have started making Councillor calls, posting leaflets through residents' doors so that they can display them in their window if they want their local Labour Councillor to drop in and discuss issues.

Spring Hill Councillor Pam Barton, Milnshaw Councillor Paul Cox and Barnfield Councillor June Harrison have all recently done leaflet drops in their area and the response has been fantastic. Residents are pleased with an extra way of interacting with their local representatives and the scheme is being rolled out by Labour across the borough.

Great Harwood: Towngate Square to be re-opened for Farmers Market

Towngate Square in Great Harwood has just undergone a major refurbishment and will be re-opened in a ribbon cutting ceremony with the local Councillors and market traders on Sunday 3rd August at 10.00am.

The refurbishment has created a much bigger space which will allow more traders onto the market area for both the weekly markets and the monthly Farmers Market on the first Sunday of every month.

HBC: New St George's Flag policy

At a recent meeting of the Leader's Policy Development Board chaired by Cllr Miles Parkinson, it was decided that the St George’s Flag should be flown annually on all public buildings on 23rd April and until nearest Sunday to St George’s Day, when the Scouts hold a service at a church in the Borough.

In addition, it was suggested that the Union Flag be flown on Remembrance Day until Remembrance Sunday. It was noted that there were a number of flagpoles situated in the townships, some of which were funded by area councils and it was suggested that the St George’s and Union Flags be flown on the same occasions.

Arrangements have now been put in place to ensure that these occasions are marked in the same way in the various townships.