Have your say on major new leisure plan for Burnley

Earlier this year, the council announced plans to bring forward a major new leisure development in Burnley town centre.

This will include working with Reel to relocate its cinema into the town centre, improve Charter Walk shopping centre, and the development of a university campus site and accommodation.

A draft masterplan, which is out for public consultation, provides further details on this and a range of other projects that are proposed over the next decade.

Next Wednesday people can visit Burnley Council’s “pop-up shop” next to the Gregg’s store in The Mall between 10am and 5-30pm to find out more about the plans and give their views.

Burnley Council leader Coun. Mark Townsend said: “We have completed the improvements to the pedestrianised area, and the private sector has invested with new openings and improvements to shop frontages. But this was just the start. The masterplan needs to build on that.”

The major new leisure development Pioneer Place' will see Reel cinema move from its current site in Manchester Road to a new multi-screen complex at Curzon Street.

The new site will also include new food, beverage and retail units. The council previously announced that a national supermarket chain would take over and convert the existing cinema site.

The masterplan proposes that as part of the development of the new cinema site at Curzon Street, a new public square is built to connect the site into the wider street network, with improved pedestrian access around that part of the town. The council is will announce further details on the Pioneer Place project before the end of the year.

It also includes a section on car parking and transport matters. The draft masterplan recommends that parking for 125 cars is included within the scheme and it is also suggested that to offset any reduction in the number of car parks, the capacity of those that remain would need to increase.

The consultation will run until October 22nd, when a questionnaire will be promoted on the council’s website.

Asif Raja, Executive member for economy and growth, said: “We need to plan for all the changes we want to see in the town centre, so that if, and when, funding becomes available, we can target those resources at schemes that are part of a coherent plan.

We want local businesses and residents to give us their views, so that the whole borough can get behind the changes that are coming.”