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Thursday 11th March 2004 |
108/2004 |
Photographers & reporters are invited to the launch of the Hag Fold Street Scene Improvement Project at 3.30pm on Friday March 12th at the junction of Brook Street, Bag Lane and Gloucester Street, Hag Fold, Atherton.
Atherton’s Hag Fold Estate is getting ready to receive a £750,000 makeover to make it a lighter, brighter and safer place for everyone.
The cash, a mixture of government and council funding, will pay for everything from new streetlights to safer pavements and even some green environmentally friendly touches.
And it’s all because the community spoke out about what they wanted to see changed…
Over the past year, the Hag Fold Community Committee has been working with the council’s Engineering Services Department and the government–backed Single Regeneration Budget (SRB5 Atherton Building Communities) on the improvement scheme.
Committee members and ward councillors joined the council’s street scene experts to identify areas of concern. They found that street lights, pavements and roads were poor, and also a lack of dropped kerbs for wheelchairs and prams. Generally, Hag Fold needed a decent clean up and new bins, with sensitive landscaping to improve the look of the area. Armed with this action plan, the committee successfully bid for £750,000. SRB 5 has contributed just over £400,000 to this project, with Wigan Council’s Engineering Services adding a further £350,000.
The project will last from now until March 2006 and will include new street lighting, pavement and carriageway improvements, dropped kerbs, education schemes, litter bins, clean up campaigns and soft landscaping. The three primary schools will also be receiving environmental improvements to their grounds.
Wigan Council People and Places Manager Nick Burdekin said:
“It’s fantastic to officially launch the scheme. It should make a real difference to people’s lives on the estate. We have already started, with the street lights and dropped kerbs and clean ups are taking place.”
Chair of the SRB5 Board Cllr Sue Loudon said:
“Hag Fold has come a long way since 1999 when the council pushed forward an SRB bid, on their behalf, for the regeneration of the area. There was quality consultation with residents and a lot of hard work done by local volunteers. Now that partnership has born fruit in many different ways; all which make Hag Fold a better place to live. This project is the latest in a long line of projects to help make Hag Fold better and brighter.”
While Sue Wilson, Chair of the Hag Fold Community Committee added:
“This is an excellent opportunity to make a difference to our estate. Many of the areas identified by the local community for this project have also been identified in our action plan. We hope everyone will be pleased with how the SRB 5 money is being spent.”
SRB5 Atherton building communities listens to what local people need and gets them involved in making changes to improve life on the Hag Fold estate. It started in 1999, with £5.95 million won from round five of the government’s single regeneration budget by the council’s economic regeneration team. There is a partnership board made up of local residents, councillors and businesses, which decides which projects get a share of the cash.