There are currently lots of major investments planned or underway across Pendle and the surrounding area and it has been fantastic seeing some of the progress over recent weeks.
Whilst chatting to residents in Brierfield it is clear how impressed local residents are with the work that is being done at Brierfield Mills (the former home of Smith and nephew). This is a £32 million project that will transform the eight acre site, being delivered thanks to a Government grant which allowed Pendle Council to buy the site and funding via the Regional Growth Fund to kick start the project.
Lancashire Adult Learning, one of the UK’s largest adult education providers, have relocated from Chorley to Brierfield Mills and their new headquarters will be open within weeks. Burnley FC in the Community are moving in too, to open up new multi-million pound sporting facilities, which will open early next year. After years working on the project, I cannot wait to see it all completed.
Meanwhile, it was really encouraging to see that work has started on Burnley General Hospital’s new £550,000 Chemotherapy and Breast Care Unit, after the new Children’s Outpatients Department opened its doors last month. Back in 2015, I helped secure the £16 million from the Department of Health for the Phase 8 development of Burnley Hospital, which is now underway to ensure more Pendle residents can be treated at Burnley, rather than Blackburn.
Finally, I was pleased to visit Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick during August to see the £50 million investment they are making at their site. They are expanding the factory to double the number of Trent fan blades they can make per year and creating a Centre of Excellence, for structures. It is amazing how fast the extension is being built, with machines already up and running in the new part of the factory. I am looking forward to visiting again this Sunday, when Rolls-Royce open up their doors to provide tours to employees family members for the first time since the 1980’s!
All this investment is the product of years of hard work by so many people and fantastic for the future of our area.