Leader of the Council, Alyson Barnes, monthly update for August 2024.
Our new government have been very clear that house building will be a key priority and that councils will need to help facilitate more new homes in their area. We know that new homes are desperately needed. As a council we are still working through a set of announcements and some housing numbers, to see exactly what this means for the borough. Making any local plan work is incredibly challenging. We have seen how development impacts on the borough and how additional homes add to the number of cars and congestion on our roads. Rossendale’s narrow valley roads do not help. However, we will do what we can to make all this and our new local plan work for Rossendale.
We are constantly told that redeveloping brown field sites is the best thing to do and clearly it is, but this is often easier said than done. Most of the viable brown sites have long since been developed leaving only limited brown sites. These sites have so many issues that the cost of developing them is often prohibitive. We need the new government to provide good, easy to access initiatives that will help councils and developers bring these sites back into use. Initiatives that are designed for smaller areas too, not just focused on massive inner city regeneration sites.
There is also an opportunity to work with social landlords too to use council land to put in place greater numbers of decent, affordable homes. Like those recently built in Newchurch. We also need to continue to lobby for funding to ensure that we can continue to adapt and improve our infrastructure. Work to the gyratory in Rawtenstall will start next March and once finished should ease traffic congestion in and around Rawtenstall but this is only a start we have further challenges in all directions.
The council’s development control committee recently refused a housing development scheme because the site was being asked to take too many properties, house sizes where small and access problematic. We need to ensure that new homes work well for people and whilst we cannot always agree where new homes need to be built, I am sure we can agree that they should be built to decent standards.
Feeding into infrastructure improvements, it was disappointing to hear the new Chancellor has plans to scrap the Restoring Your Railway Fund, which was looking at a train and tram link from Rawtenstall to Manchester - but we haven’t given up hope. As the only district in Lancashire not to have a rail link it’s important that we continue to push for this if we want to continue with our plans for growth for the borough. There is overwhelming support for the link, and we have made a very strong strategic business case developed by an independent rail consultant. Our new MP also highlighted it in his maiden speech, and we’ll continue to explore avenues to try and make sure Rossendale finally gets the rail link it needs and deserves. I’ll keep you updated should things change.
The Council is unveiling a draft Waterfoot Masterplan for public consultation, and we want you to get involved in shaping the town's future. Residents, visitors, shoppers, businesses and anyone with an interest in Waterfoot can complete an online survey, which will be open until September 6. We are also hosting a public engagement session which will be held on Wednesday, August 14, from 4pm to 6pm at the Waterfoot Lamppost (Old Library). We’d love to see Waterfoot develop into an ‘arts town’ and be a destination for the outdoors, but what do you think? Your feedback is crucial in creating a town we’re all proud of. You can complete the survey by going to https://bit.ly/waterfootsurvey
If there are any issues you would like to raise with me directly, please get in touch. I will be happy to hear from you. Contact me on alysonbarnes@rossendalebc.gov.uk or ring on 217819 / 07817 414248