Great Harwood to benefit from £450,000 of Town Centre Greening Projects after Public Consultation
Great Harwood to benefit from £450,000 of Town Centre Greening Projects after Public Consultation
Hyndburn Borough Council and Community Interest Company Proffitts – Investing in Communities have been working on a project aimed at improving 5 sites in Great Harwood Town Centre.
The sites to be improved include Bank Mill House Car Park, Game Street Car Park, Holgate Street Car Park, St. Huberts Street Gateway and Town Gate, which will benefit from £450,000 of investment from the High Street Accelerator Fund – with this part of the funding specifically for “greening” projects in Great Harwood Town Centre.
Image: Mercer Clock Tower, Town Gate, Great Harwood
In December 2024, the team shared some draft masterplans for each site and opened a consultation process for residents and visitors to Great Harwood to share their own ideas and suggestions for the project too. The comments, ideas, and feedback received have now all been reviewed, and the masterplans have been updated to reflect what people had to say.
Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader of Hyndburn Borough Council and member of the Great Harwood High Street Accelerator Panel said:
‘’The masterplans for all five sites have been revised and we’ll be putting up new plans on every site for people to view the changes. It’s fantastic that people who live here, work here, and visit the town centre, have been able to let us know how we can make the sites better for them. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who responded to the survey, or turned up to one of the community drop in sessions to see us’’.
At St. Huberts Street, the proposal is to provide a gateway entrance into Great Harwood with new tree planting, replacing old and neglected trees and shrubberies, provide new surfacing, a new gateway sign, seating and flowering bulbs.
At Holgate Street car park, work will include tree work, planting and refurbishment of railings within the car park to help improve the car parks overall security and make the area look more welcoming. Work at Game Street car park will include an extension to the existing car park, tree planting, mural style artwork, welcoming signage to make the area more welcoming for visitors and compliment the town centres shopping offer by providing car parking in close proximity to the local shops.
The car park at Bank Mill house will be improved with tree planting, an extension to the existing car park and a gateway signage feature. Finally, new planting around the clock tower and the refurbishment of street furniture including benches and improved signage will take place on Town Gate Square.
Martin Proffitt, Director, Proffitts added ‘’Even small changes to a space like more seating, colourful planting, better access, and improved signage can have a big impact on how much people enjoy visiting – so the team are eager to get started on the planned improvements. We hope that contractors will start work at the first site, later this month, with the whole five site project being completed by June 2025.’’
More information about the project can be found on the website below:
https://www.proffittscic.com/community-projects/great-harwood-town-centre-improvements/
If you would like more general information about the project, please contact Martin Proffitt at Proffitts (CIC) on 07989928038 or communities@proffittscic.com