Alyson Barnes

Council leader

I MAY as well start with what I feel I’ve started this column with for so long now – Covid.

Although I think this time, we’re a bit more upbeat.

We are by no means out of the woods yet, but we do seem to be heading into a clearing and I think it’s an opportune time to say thank you.

Thank you to all those organisations, community groups, charities and businesses that have worked and continue to work tirelessly to ensure Rossendale is safe and best placed to make a good recovery from this pandemic.

It’s still important we all continue to be safe, to get both vaccinations when we’re able to and get tested and isolate when we have symptoms and test positive. The council are continuing to fight hard for covid resources for our residents, with the mobile vaccination and testing sites visiting our borough regularly as well as the site situated within Rawtenstall, but it’s also incumbent on residents to use these facilities to ensure there is a demand for them in order for them to stay.

We have great vaccination take in the borough, but it could be better, and we strongly encourage you to come forward and take up the offer of the vaccine if you’re eligible.

Another talking point recently with the publication of the climate change report and the COP26 summit coming up later in the year, is climate change.

The climate crisis isn’t just something that is happening in the Amazon or the Antarctic but also right here in our corner of Lancashire.

The valley has been severely affected by increased rainfall and flooding in recent years and it’s imperative we act now and start to make changes.

We will shortly be launching our £1m climate fund, which has been put in place to support decarbonisation and climate change initiatives over the coming five years.

We want to encourage and increase household recycling too as we know many of you want to do all you can to support this important issue too.

We are identifying ways of reducing the council’s energy consumption by up to 50 percent by 2030 and obtaining as much of our energy needs from renewable sources as possible.

We no longer use weed killer on our own land and haven’t done for a number of years.

The result is more weeds but also more bees!

And we also leave swathes of grass verges uncut, and this rewilding effect has encouraged new wildlife.

One of the most exciting projects is the Rossendale Forest initiative. We are currently identifying areas to carry out significant tree planting across Rossendale in line with our election pledge to plant a tree for every child in the borough.

And we will be working with community groups, schools and local businesses to help them to reduce their omissions too.

There’s a lot to be positive about and if we continue to work together, we can ensure our valley remains beautiful for generations to come.

We are always here to help and if you would like to speak to me about any issue that is concerning you, please get in touch by ringing 01706 217 819 or email me at alysonbarnes@ rossendalebc.gov.uk.

You can also check out our climate change strategy on our website.