Following the vote at Chorley Council last night to pause development of the Market Walk extension, the Conservative group leader called on the ruling Labour Administration to undertake the following;
- To stop any further work and negotiations until a decision on how to proceed is made in January. This to involve all sites included in the master plan.
- To remove the hoardings and replace with open security fencing in order to make the town centre look open for business. In addition maximise car parking spaces on the Flat Iron.
- To consider a compensation package for businesses and traders who have been affected by loss of income due to the ongoing works and disruption.
- For the leader of the Council to offer a public apology to those traders and businesses for arranging to commence the work in their crucial pre Christmas trading period.
Conservative leader Councillor Alan Cullens re-iterated "whilst we are willing to work with the administration on developing our retail and leisure offer we have consistently voted against building on the Flat Iron and reducing the car parking available".
Our plan for Chorley
"At the meeting we delivered our strategy for the coming year which detailed how we believe the town centre should further develop on its heritage. By introducing a wider range of markets, including more artisan traders, developing a wider tourism offer and encouraging more independent traders we believe we can deliver a more thriving town centre.
Alongside our proposals for the town centre we proposed a wide range of other developments aimed at improving housing availability, tackling loneliness and improving education chances amongst many others."
