Burnley council leader Afrasiab Anwar hails population rise after years of decline

Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar has hailed the rise in the town’s population after years of decline.
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Coun. Anwar said the latest national 2021 census figures revealed Burnley’s population had increase by 7,000.Its 2011 equivalent showed the borough’s population had dropped by 2.8% from 89,500 to 87,000 over 10 years.

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Coun. Anwar also praised the impact that Burnley’s contribution to refugee resettlement programmes over the years highlighting multiple gold medal winning athlete Sir Mo Farah as an example of what immigrants from overseas could achieve.He made the comments as he delivered his leader’s report to Burnley’s Full Council meeting.Coun. Anwar said: “I want to touch upon the headline data from the census which has just been released.“What that shows is that the population of the borough has gone up by 8%, roughly 7,000.“That’s really positive news for the borough, particularly when we consider that a number of years ago people were saying that people wanted to leave Burnley and people wanted to move out of the area.“It reflects all the work that’s been done not just by this administration but by previous administrations in attracting people to the borough who want to come here and live, work and play.“And by making Burnley an attractive pace for people to come and move up the housing ladder into new homes. Look at the developments that we have got, the fantastic businesses we have got as part of the work we do with Burnley Bondholders.“Some of them are moving into the area because of the jobs that we’re creating as well.“I think it’s also important that we mention obviously the support we provide as a borough as part of the ongoing commitment the resettlement programmes“The reason I mention that is because Burnley is a welcoming place. It is a welcoming place for everybody.“But it’s important because its also 10 years since the start of the Olympics in 2012 and we all know what happened then.“A man by the name of Mohammed who was an immigrant to this country, trafficked into this country, went on to win two gold medals for Great Britain.“It’s about the contribution that people from not only other parts of the country – but from all over the world – can make to this fantastic borough.”Liberal Democrat leader Coun. Gordon Birtwistle, first elected to the council in 1983, said: “The fact that Burnley’s population is going up is extremely good news.

“It’s gone down for long enough.”