This week I have had the pleasure of delivering some fantastic news to traders at Accrington Market. I am very pleased to announce that the rent concessions, which were set to be removed in December are now going to continue until December 2023. Traders were incredibly pleased with this news, and I am proud to have worked alongside Hyndburn Council to make this happen.

As we enter the winter months and many of us are thinking about buying gifts or festive meals, I would encourage everyone to shop local and shop small whenever possible. We have a fabulous selection of independent traders throughout Hyndburn towns and lots of fresh produce and goods on our market.

This Christmas will be one of the biggest yet in Hyndburn. Not only do we have the Accrington Light Switch-on, Thursday 24 November, we have Christmas markets and entertainment on the town square at weekends from 26 November to 17 December. Inside Accrington Market will be decorated and local primary schools are getting involved in our bauble decoration and colouring competition. There are also light switch-on events happening in all the townships thanks to support from the community and councillors.

With so many organisations getting involved and a huge selection of events and activities to take part in I am confident our community will be proud of everything we have to offer here in Hyndburn. I hope everyone will join me in attending these events and supporting our borough over the coming months.

We are currently entering a very exciting time for our borough, awaiting news about various funding bids and also about to embark on our Leisure Transformation Project. All this work will mean the residents of Hyndburn will have access to fantastic facilities and activities to help improve wellbeing and health for everyone. I look forward to updating our community with progress on this and making sure as many people as possible have input into the plans.