15 February 2008, 08/36
Skelmersdale: building a town centre to be proud
of
The masterplan outlining proposals to bring a new heart to
Skelmersdale town centre has been approved for consultation.
West Lancashire District Council's Cabinet has given the go-ahead
for a six-week consultation to be carried out so that local people
have the opportunity to give their views on the masterplan.
The masterplan sets out new features that local people have said
they want in the town centre - a new high street, more shops,
another supermarket, a new leisure centre, community facilities,
improvements to the Tawd Valley, and housing.
Cllr Ian Grant, portfolio holder for Regeneration, said:
"The consultation exercise will begin in mid-March and will include
public exhibitions, and a newsletter and questionnaire to every
house in the town. We will be encouraging as many people as
possible to look at the masterplan and give their views. The
Council will consider all comments made before we finalise the
masterplan during the summer.
"The masterplan will pave the way for improvements to Skelmersdale
town centre that will benefit not only everyone who lives and works
in the town, but also the district as a whole. The project is
valued at more than £350 million and will bring new jobs and
investment to the town and help us build a town centre that local
people can be proud of."
The next steps
1. Local people will be asked to give their views on the masterplan
in a six-week consultation period that will run from 13 March to 24
April. Exhibitions will be held in the Concourse on 27, 28, 29 and
31 March, and 1 to 4 April.
2. The Cabinet will consider all the responses to the consultation
before finalising the masterplan during the summer.
3. The developer will then submit planning applications for the
first stage of redevelopment, which is scheduled to start next
year. The planning applications will be assessed against the
masterplan.
Background
From the outset, the Council has sought wide public and stakeholder
involvement in the project, which began in 2005 when the
Skelmersdale Vision was drawn up following extensive consultation
with local people. In 2007, initial options were developed and the
Council carried out further consultation. The masterplan has been
drawn up after taking into account the views of almost 2,000 people
who responded to that consultation last summer.
In order to ensure that this is not just a 'paper plan,' a
development agreement has been signed between West Lancashire
District Council, national regeneration agency English Partnerships
and the UK's leading regeneration specialist St Modwen Properties
Plc. The agreement formally appoints St Modwen to deliver the
ambitious plans for the multi-million pound transformation of
Skelmersdale town centre.
Main proposals in the masterplan
· A new high street will be built, linking the Concourse and Asda.
This will be a pedestrian-friendly street, probably with limited
access for cars and buses
· A new sports centre and swimming pool for community use, and a
brand new multi-million pound building for Skelmersdale College, at
the north end of the new high street, near Asda
· A cinema, plus shops, bars and restaurants along the new high
street, with residential apartments above. Parking facilities would
also be provided
· A new library/resource centre, a new police facility and a new
building for the Ecumenical Centre in the heart of the town
centre
· A new bus station on the eastern side of the Concourse, and a new
hotel at the side of the Concourse close to where the current bus
station stands
· A new food superstore to be integrated with the Concourse
centre
· A new link road, with traffic calming to improve safety, running
north from the Concourse to connect with existing road
networks
· A high-quality adventure play area for children in the town
centre.
· Improvements to the Tawd Valley, with new paths and cycleways.
The provision of appropriate specialist recreational activities
will also be investigated
This proposal differs significantly from previous proposals for the
town centre in that it is in no way dependent on external grant
funding either regionally, nationally or from Europe. The
development and sale of new housing as part of the project will
provide the finance necessary to secure many of the less commercial
aspects of the scheme such as the new library/resource centre,
Ecumenical Centre and sports centre.
Housing
Around 1,150 new homes are proposed in the town centre. These will
be a mixture of houses and apartments and will include around 115
affordable homes, either for rent or purchase. All housing will
need to be of the highest quality and design and will respect
wooded areas, particularly in the river valley, and existing
properties close by. The masterplan allocates open land alongside
Yewdale for development and also shows the clearance and
redevelopment of Firbeck for new homes which will have a
high-quality design and layout.
Redevelopment of Firbeck has been selected as the preferred option
for a number of reasons including:
It allows the town centre area to be planned and redeveloped as a
whole
It will make new development on neighbouring land more attractive
and viable.
The property at Firbeck is not well designed or well laid out and
doesn't meet the standard of housing that residents have a right to
expect. Redevelopment will enable better-quality housing, of a
range of types, to be built. It will also enable existing residents
to be offered a range of better relocation opportunities.
Following the approval of the masterplan by Cabinet, council
officers will visit all homes in Firbeck and Findon to discuss
people's individual needs, give information about what will be
provided if demolition does go ahead, and to carry out further
consultation.
The Council is proposing to work with the developer, St Modwen, to
identify a range of sites in Skelmersdale, around the town centre,
where new houses can be built to compensate for the homes lost at
Firbeck and Findon if demolition goes ahead. These would then be
offered to the displaced tenants.
Related information
> Skelmersdale
> Your
Views