Bacup Neighbourhood Forum consultation success

Date published: 16 February 2010

The organisers of the Bacup Neighbourhood Forum public consultation event on 25 January have declared the drop-in session a success.

Area Manager, Julie Jackson said: “We are very pleased with the response we received. Around 50 people came along and gave their views on a range of different issues. These will now be used in drawing up a Neighbourhood Plan for the area.”

The issue that was ranked as most important by the majority of people attending was transport with many people wanting better public transport and better links into and within the borough.

Better support for young people was the second most popular priority with people agreeing on the need to tackle low educational achievement and expectation amongst young people, challenging perceptions of young people, tackling drug and alcohol abuse, improving parental support and doing more to get young people into education, training or employment.

Other priorities identified in descending order were: 

• Tourism and Leisure 
• Economic Challenges 
• Health and Wellbeing 
• Bacup Town Centre 
• Community Safety

People at the event were also asked to say what they liked about Bacup with responses including ‘the views, the building and the people’ and ‘being able to walk in the countryside’.

Some of the things that people didn’t like included boarded up buildings, the lack of youth facilities and local bus services.

People from Stacksteads were significantly more positive, saying that they liked: 

• The people 
• The Neighbourhood 
• Flowers in the planters 
• Christmas decorations 
• The community atmosphere 
• The sense of community 
• Friendly people 
• Wildflower meadows

They also wanted better shops, better parking and more youth facilities.

Area Manager Julie Jackson said: “We wanted to find out what people in Bacup and Stacksteads think of their neighbourhood and what they'd like to see improved. The response we have had has been very positive. We will use this feedback to draw up Bacup’s Neighbourhood Action Plan. This plan will aim to improve the quality of life for people who live and work in the area and will show how different organisations can work together for the benefit of people in Bacup.

“We are very pleased with the changes that have been made to Neighbourhood Forums since last year. The Forums are now made up of ward councillors, community group representatives and local service providers including the police and health service. They are focused on working together to provide solutions to local problems.”