Leader’s Viewpoint: Councillor Munsif Dad March 2026
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It’s been a busy and demanding month for many of us, and as Ramadan comes to an end, I want to begin by sending my warmest wishes to everyone who celebrated Eid. I hope it was a peaceful and joyful time for you and your families.
Accrington Market Hall is due to reopen its doors this coming November, and we have now begun our search to find a new ‘Town Centre Venue Manager’, who can breathe new life into the historic building. The successful candidate will also be tasked with overseeing the Town Hall building once it returns to Council management in 2027. These two buildings have been at the heart of Accrington for generations and this new appointment will play a pivotal part in developing both venues into vibrant hubs of entertainment and retail that drive footfall and support the wider local economy. We’re also recruiting now for a new Community Safety Officer.
Applications are now live on the Council website, and I would encourage anyone with the correct experience and skillset to apply.
It’s an exciting time for the borough as our bid for Accrington to become UK Town of Culture 2028 begins to take shape. Accrington has a wealth of history and culture that has largely been overlooked or forgotten, which is exactly what we intend to showcase in our bid. The winning town will receive £3 million to deliver a year-long cultural programme in 2028. We believe that Accrington, and Hyndburn as a whole, has a rich cultural background and it’s time for the rest of the country to learn that too.
With the weather beginning to brighten up, it has been fantastic to see so many children out enjoying the sunshine and getting some much-needed exercise. This Council understands how important it is to keep our kids active and to nurture blossoming sporting talent wherever it may appear. This is why we have been awarding grants via our Cabinet Action Fund to help support grassroots sports across the borough, including £6,048 to the Primetime Netball League and £1,500 to the Lancashire Bombers American Football Club.
We’re also proud to have allocated £250,000 from our Pride in Place Impact funding to improving play areas, and we were delighted that earlier this week we were part of the Government announcement that 66 areas will receive £270,000 of new funding for play areas. We’ll be working closely with our Parks Team in the coming weeks to identify how we can best spend the new funding. We’ve also allocated money for creating new artificial cricket wickets, will support Accrington Stanley Community Trusts community sport initiatives and will make a number of improvements to green spaces across the borough this year.
We are also proud to announce the creation of a new ‘Sport & Club Development Officer’, who will work to ensure that young people in Hyndburn have access to a wide variety of sports and have the necessary space, time and equipment to hone their skills. This Council is dedicated to removing any barriers to success for our young sporting talent and we believe that having a new dedicated officer in place will go a long way in achieving this. We’ve provided funding to Hyndburn Leisure who are now actively recruiting for this role.
After listening to the concerns of residents around the number of HMOs appearing in the borough, this council previously agreed to a non-immediate Article 4 Direction, covering nine wards, in December 2024. This came into effect on 15 March 2026 and means that planning permission much be obtained before the creation of a new HMO in these wards, which was previously not needed.
After carrying out further research, we have decided that the remaining wards in the borough would benefit from these same protections and have taken action to provide this. HMOs can be a good way to provide affordable housing to those in need, however it’s very importantthat we ensure any future HMOs are created in suitable locations and meet proper standards. With these extra powers in place, we can make sure that all our residents are provided with suitable housing and limit any disturbances to the wider community.
Finally, the beginning of spring signals the start of another fantastic event season in Hyndburn. Starting in the Easter holidays, Accrington Market will host an Easter Trail from 28 March – 11 April. On the 4 April this will be complimented by free fairground rides on Accrington Town Square. Whilst the refurbishment of the market hall is underway, our market traders are very much open for business and are taking part in the trail.
There’s also an Easter Trail in Gatty Park led by Community Solutions, and a brand-new event in Accrington Town Centre on Easter Sunday funded by a Council culture and heritage grant – Accrington Live Free Music Event at the Tiger Lounge! More information on events in Hyndburn can be found here https://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/events/
With plenty more events to come throughout the year, it promises to be another fantastic event season in Hyndburn.