Alyson Barnes
Council leader
THOSE of you that read my column regularly will have seen my call out for businesses and residents to complete our rail link survey.
We had a fantastic response from people right along the length of the proposed route, with 86 per cent of people stating that they would support the potential new link that could see journey times into Manchester from Rawtenstall as low as 44 minutes.
I have always championed the rail link and see it as vital to Rossendale’s future, which is why I have been so keen for Rossendale Council to drive this forward in recent years, hopefully we are now seeing all that hard work pay off.
The massive response and support shown in this survey justifies why it is so important to the future of the borough as residents need a reliable connection to access leisure, education and employment, without needing to use their cars.
We are the only borough in Lancashire without a rail link and we cannot afford to miss out any longer.
It’s also important that whichever solution is chosen we ensure the continued success of the much-valued heritage railway. A Rawtenstall to Manchester link would make the ELR more sustainable, as the infrastructure maintenance costs budget is predicted to run dry in five years’ time and we know that the extra income this could provide could make the whole heritage railway sustainable for future generations.
Traditional stations, trains, signalling and volunteers will be protected in any proposal.
We have been contacted by other heritage railways that are seeing an integrated passenger connection as a way to make their rail lines sustainable in the future too.
There are a couple of other things to update you on this month too.
The consultation into four yearly elections is now closed and again I’d like to thank everyone that took time to give us feedback. A decision on this will be made at our next council meeting and we will let you know the outcome via the local press and social media. Our bid to the Levelling Up Fund is now completed. We believe we have a strong bid that has an ambitious strategy to transform our local economy.
We need to create better paid jobs locally to enable Rossendale’s economy to evolve into a stronger, more self-contained local economy.
Our bid has identified projects which match council priorities and have the best chance of success when scored against the Levelling Up criteria.
The criteria focuses on town centres and heritage, skills and enterprise, and transport.
You’ll be able to see the details of the bid on the council’s website once the final submission is made so make sure you keep an eye out on our social media pages for the link. As ever I am 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