Sponsored by
Leyland traders feel 'short changed'
They were part of a promised new look costing £4.25m, but ended up with a £200,000 facelift.
Now traders in Leyland's Hough Lane say it's time for the talking to stop and the action to begin.
It was back in 2008 that South Ribble Council unveiled plans for a multi-million regeneration of Leyland.
However, since then traders say that the only thing that's happened has been minor 'cosmetic work' like replacing furniture and general maintenance.
Helen Pilkington, from Brian Pilkington Estate Agents said: "It just comes down to funding at the end of the day.
"As a business owner on Hough Lane, we're paying a lot of rates and sometimes you just want something back. I'm an office rather than a retailer so it is different for me, but I work and live in the town so can see what's happening."
Work to replace benches and install boxes for planters was undertaken before last year's popular Transport Festival.
Mrs Pilkington said: "It was all systems go for the Transport Festival where we had the street furniture and the flowers planted.
"It does need regenerating but it all comes down to money. Leyland comes to a complete standstill when a bus stops in Hough Lane. It's small things like that which need to be sorted."
Mike Fadden from Electra Centre in Hough Lane said: "They (the council) just put some new seats down and rearranged the plants.They did it last year but as soon as they put the seats down, someone had written their name on them.
"What we really want to see is some action on the free car parking spaces at our end of Hough Lane. We were promised free spaces before Christmas but since then we haven't heard anything."
Coun Caleb Tomlinson, who represents the Leyland Central ward, said: "Hough Lane isn't the pedestrianised area that we thought we were going to get, that's for sure.
"I thought we were going to be having nice seating areas and places to sit and have a coffee outside. It was going to be very cosmopolitan.
"That's obviously gone by-the-by. The traders and the council need to work together."
Coun Colin Clark, deputy leader of South Ribble Borough Council, said discussions were continuing as to where the cash should be spent.
He said: "An outline of ideas for improving Hough Lane was incorporated into the Leyland Masterplan in early 2008.
"Some smaller aspects of the work have already been done, including replacing street furniture and carrying out some maintenance.
"More extensive projects are being discussed, which would involve creating better links between Hough Lane and the railway station.
"Talks are ongoing about the best way to drive Leyland forward, as part of our priority to create a strong South Ribble at the heart of a prosperous Central Lancashire."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leyland
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
