Town projects win top planning award
TWO major council planning projects have collected industry awards.
Both the Spinning Point project to redevelop Rawtenstall town centre and build a new bus station, and the work done by the council’s planning team on the new McDonald’s were commended at the Royal Town Planning Institute North West Planning Excellence awards.
The £5.4 million bus station development won the ‘Excellence’ category, and the judges praised the work the Rossendale Together Barnfield (RTB) partnership had done to bring about the scheme. The judges commented that they were “extremely impressed” with the partnership led by Rossendale council in achieving the regeneration of the Valley Centre and adjacent building in the heart of Rawtenstall as parts of had become an ‘eyesore’.
In a statement they said: “The judges recognised the achievement of the partnership in assembling the land and bringing about a viable development that will transform the town, its economy, connectivity and which will undoubtedly encourage further investment.”
Coun Andy MacNae, Rossendale council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, said: “This is brilliant news and shows the progress being made to redevelop the area.
“It’s great to have external judges from such prestigious awards say everyone has done a great job. Work continues at pace and I can’t wait to see it finished.”
The council’s planning team also won the ‘Best Practice’ award for its work on the new McDonald’s, off Haslingden Road, Rawtenstall. The judges said the scheme was given ‘special status’ because it demonstrated how a small local planning authority can achieve an ‘excellent outcome’ in dealing with an application from a world famous company.
Council leader Alyson Barnes said she was ‘delighted’ their work had been recognised.
She said: “It is richly deserved. We pressed for a more creative solution than the original one proposed. We negotiated for seven months and McDonald’s architect finally came back with what the judges said was “a bespoke, contemporary and attractive building. A lot of this great work often goes under the radar so it very pleasing our work on this has been recognised.”
Nicola Hopkins, planning manager, said: “I am thrilled that the hard work of the team has been recognised by a prestigious organisation such as The Royal Town Planning Institute.”