It's the real deal

Leyland is looking back to the future as it gets ready to take advantage of £25m of government funding to turn its ambitious regeneration vision into reality.

Along with £13m pledged by South Ribble Council, it means a total of £38m is set to be invested in the creation of a new town centre that will give Leyland its heart back.

The money will be used to deliver “radical changes” with the plans including a new public square and commercial and residential developments.

The improvement work also includes the refurbishment of Leyland’s market and the creation of a new business hub for skills, events and workspaces.

The Leyland Town Deal Board, which includes representatives from private sector businesses, education, public, community and voluntary sectors, has driven the project forward.

Charles Hadcock, who chairs the board, says: “The regeneration of the Market Square will start creating a hub in a centre location that we can really call a destination. It will feed out to a variety of other projects going forward.

“To have the funding come through at such a critical time is really very important. We’ve looked at different models around the country to see what we can achieve, but the real ambition is to create this central hub.

“We want to establish that Market Square, so it becomes something of a proper heart to Leyland as it was in bygone years. We’ve taken that model of the past and reinvented it, so we create a better future.”

Developing the night-time economy is also an important part of the vision for Leyland as is encouraging more people to live in the town centre.

Rachel Salter, strategic lead for future investment at South Ribble Council, says the recognised shift from town centres being just about retail means more life needs to be driven into the heart of places like Leyland.

She says: “We are looking at opportunities within the town centre: town centre living, more opportunities for start-up businesses in terms of the regeneration of the market and the smaller spaces that they can move into when they grow.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for Leyland. It is fair to say there isn’t really a town centre as such and creating the Market Square will create a real hub for many different events over the year.”

When it comes to town living, she says there is a huge demand for one bed apartments and smaller accommodation in South Ribble and adds: “That’s something we’ve looked at within the Town Deal scheme. We’ve realigned it as we’ve progressed the design and we’ve put a lot more apartments in there.”

Michael Conlon, chairman of Conlon Construction, says it has been “no secret” that Leyland, like towns across the country, was being “hollowed out” as the result of the decline of retail in their centres.

The idea of creating a hub to attract visitors, businesses and people looking for town centre living was also not new, he added, with amenities such as good schools and decent playgrounds playing their part.

Rachel says that creating a night-time scene alongside town centre living will also help the borough’s established businesses and the local authority.

She says: “Those people who work for those businesses can live in Leyland and enjoy the amenities that we’re going to develop as part of the scheme.

“It is delivering lots of outputs socially. But it also presents commercial opportunities for the council, which is a big shift for South Ribble. It’s ambitious and something the council has not been involved with before, but the aspiration is that it will own and run those properties so that it has revenue for years to come.”

Local businesses are also set benefit from the regeneration and development work itself. Charles says: “The policy and the framework we have around procurement is to keep it local for excellent reasons; including the environment and sustainability.”