Cash floods in to Padiham

The board of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership has approved £4.9m. of funding that will help to prevent a repeat of the disastrous Boxing Day 2015 floods in the town, but also create up to 250 new high quality homes on a former industrial site in the town centre.The schemes to receive the money will see:• Flood defences along the River Calder and Green Brook, protecting existing premises and enabling the development of homes on the former Baxi site;• Public realm improvements to the town centre.Burnley Council chief executive Mick Cartledge said: “I’d like to thank the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership for its support in giving these schemes, and Padiham as a whole, a massive boost.“Burnley Council has been working closely with the Environment Agency, Homes England, Lancashire County Council and the LEP to bring forward a strong case for funding and all that hard work has paid off.“This is a significant investment in the town and a major step in helping to develop new flood defences, create almost 250 new high quality homes, and attract new businesses and investment by improving the look and vitality of the town centre by linking into the ongoing Townscape Heritage Initiative on ‘The Hill’.“The borough council will continue to work with partners to continue to drive forward the delivery of these important projects.”The LEP’s funding has come from the Local Growth Fund, a multi-million pound investment programme for Lancashire which seeks to drive economic growth, create high value jobs and help build new homes.Graham Cowley, chairman of the LEP’s Growth Deal Management Board, said: “The Local Growth Fund is an enabling investment initiative designed to support a wide range of projects and programmes across the whole of the county. “By supporting the North West Burnley Growth Corridor in Padiham we are not only helping to protect existing residential and commercial premises, we are also ensuring that the area can accommodate more growth and investment in the future.”