New strategy to give town a boost
EXPLORING more ways of attracting tourists to Ormskirk and refurbishing Aughton Street to match the Moor Street improvements are just two recommendations in a new report.
West Lancashire Borough Council’s corporate and environmental overview and scrutiny committee has produced “A Market Town Strategy for Ormskirk” after a review of the town centre which covered a number of topics.
These included the market; parking; leisure and the night time economy, technology and marketing (including tourism) and the contribution of Edge Hill University to the town.
The committee has come up with a number of recommendations which services within the borough council and the county council will be asked to look at.
In terms of tourism, the borough council will be looking at encouraging cultural tourism through visitor attractions such as Chapel Gallery and promoting Ormskirk as a visitor destination.
There is also a host of recommendations for the events square on Moor Street, including working to ensure it is adaptable for day and evening events and providing an opportunity for wider community use.
At the market there should be provision for a mixture of traditional and non-traditional stalls and canopies should be replaced with matching or branded ones.
The report recommends the council continues the close association with Edge Hill University as it is a major contributor to the local economy.
Parking recommendations are to continue ongoing discussions with Merseyrail regarding arrangements at Ormskirk railway station and consider alternative ways of paying for parking.
As well as considering options for Aughton Street, the county council will be asked to look at a variety of traffic issues including town centre congestion.
The work undertaken by the committee complements the action plan set out in the Ormskirk Town Centre Strategy, and the findings of the review will be fully considered by the town centre management group and associated working groups.
Cllr Nikki Hennessy, chairman of the corporate and environmental overview and scrutiny committee, said: “The report has a series of important recommendations to help make Ormskirk an even better place to live, work and visit.”