Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a joint report of Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills and Councillor Kimberley Whitehead, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and Arts, seeking approval to the Accrington Town Centre Masterplan Framework (MF) and Delivery Strategy.

Councillor Whitehead provided a brief introduction to the report and highlighted that the framework would be a continuingly evolving document.  Discussions were on-going with the local college about the potential to deliver town centre change.  Councillor Khan indicated that he was supportive of the proposals and engagement with the education sector.  He hoped that the outcomes would be ambitious and visionary and was keen to work with the Controlling Group to shape the way forward.  Councillor Whitehead acknowledged that buy-in from everyone was needed to progress the Masterplan and added that she would be pleased to work cross-party on this important issue.

Approval of the report was deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

In 2005, Hyndburn Borough Council had created the Accrington Town Centre Strategy.  This strategy had highlighted that Accrington Town Centre was facing major challenges due to changes in shopping habits.  It was also recognised that Accrington had the potential to enhance the quality of the environment in Accrington Town Centre and position itself as a competitive visitor destination.

The Town Centre Strategy had recognised the need for a masterplan which would support the town’s regeneration ambitions and create a town centre that better met the needs of the local community – both existing, and new communities attracted to Accrington in the future.

Cabinet had given its support to the Accrington Town Centre Partnership Board’s recommendation to allocate £150,000 funding to undertake an Arndale Masterplan in the Council’s Investment Plan for the Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Funding allocation (UKSPF).  In December 2023, the Government had announced 55 towns (which included Accrington) who would each receive up to £20m from Long Term Plan for Towns funding (LTPfT) and it was considered prudent for the Council to extend the work and undertake a wider town centre masterplan.

Lancashire County Council had provided £50,000 match funding to expand the masterplan project to enable high level Transport and Connectivity work to also be undertaken.  Both authorities had worked together in developing a MF to deliver positive change for Accrington Town Centre.  The MF had been developed as a guide to inform planning & development decisions within the town centre and set a vision for the town centre, identifying the short, medium and long-term opportunities for Accrington.

The purpose of the MF document was to build upon the vision established within the Town Centre Investment Plan (TCIP).  The MF had developed a series of key strategic actions and drivers for positive change within the town centre, defining principles which were outlined within the strategic actions.  The site and local character had been thoroughly investigated in order to develop the illustrative masterplan which complemented the historic context.  The illustrative masterplan was intended to provide a clear framework to shape and encourage new development and investment into the town within a short, medium and the longer term over the next 10 to 15 years.

It was important for the MF to remain a flexible tool, which could respond appropriately to market and economic conditions as well as evolving with local and national planning policy.  As such, the suggested phasing and illustrative masterplan could be reviewed and refreshed over this period, recognising the proposals and interventions put forward would take time to deliver and come to fruition.

The MF had been developed and finalised under the following key stages:

Stage 1 – Inception and Baseline (June 2024).  This work had covered the following work tasks:

• Inception Meeting, Study Visit/Lesson Learnt workshop;
• Reviewing Existing Technical Baseline Audit;
• Townscape/Urban Design Appraisal;
• Heritage Appraisal;
• Market Insight and Economic Analysis;
• Appreciation of Technical Constraints & Opportunities;
• Best Practice/Bench Marking.

Stage 2 – Prepare the Vision (July to August 2024). This work had covered the following work tasks:

• Prepare the Vision;
• Initial Stakeholder Engagement;
• Early Engagement & Analysis Workshop.

Stage 3 – Masterplan & Framework Options and Development Engagement (September to October 2024). This work had covered the following work tasks:

• Stakeholder & Community Engagement, Testing the Options;
• Building on the Existing Vision Workshop;
• Overall Options Appraisal.

Stage 4 – Prepare the Final Masterplan Framework – (November 2024 to January 2025).

This work had covered the following work tasks:

• Finalise the Preferred Framework;
• Prepare the Draft Masterplan Framework;
• Develop Delivery Strategy & Plan;
• Funding and Delivery Workshop;
• Finalise Masterplan Outputs.

Stage 5 – Final Masterplan Framework and Delivery Plan sign-off – (February 2025).

The MF had been developed through understanding Accrington town centre and its wider context, which had identified key challenges but also opportunities.  The work built on the success of the TCIP to understand the vision statement and its aims, and detailed how they might be achieved.  This had identified areas/aspects of what made Accrington special, which would be through: celebrating Accrington’s unique landscape and rich history of architecture and heritage buildings; encouraging enterprise to stimulate economic growth within the local economy; repopulating the town centre to create a strong local town centre community; and promote Accrington as a gateway to the Pennines, Ribble Valley and Forest of Bowland.

Key spatial design drivers promoted through the MF included:

• Celebrating heritage and character capitalising on the character and assets through creating a patchwork of distinct character areas, (Neighbourhoods) which were defined by existing building and assets.  Each area would provide a different land use for the town and key focal areas.

• Defining welcoming gateways to create safe and active streets through rationalising vehicles movement and defining key public transport and vehicular gateways.

• Enhancing green areas and waterways within the town centre and links to outside the town centre by animating surrounding landscape connections and existing waterways of the river Hyndburn and Woodnook Water.

• Optimising development opportunities which could deliver high-quality development over the short, medium and longer term.  Providing new homes, businesses, community and cultural space to inspire impactful growth.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

A number of options had been developed and tested by the project team during the initial key stakeholder/Councillor sessions.  A preferred MF option had been presented at the public consultation exercises, with feedback from these and final elected member comments being heard by the project team.

Resolved                                 (1)   That Cabinet notes and approves the Accrington Town Centre Masterplan Framework which includes a proposed delivery strategy which can be viewed online via the following link: https://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/download/framework-documents/

(2)   That Cabinet supports work by officers to seek external funding for the appointment of a project team to progress further highway design work, land acquisition strategy, valuation advice, advice on engaging development partners, etc.  Where external funding opportunities do not materialise, Cabinet asks officers to calculate the estimated costs for undertaking this work for consideration by Cabinet in a future report.