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Showcasing Our Area
There are many exciting aspects to our area, here are but a few of our latest developments:
Leigh Sports Village
Leigh Sports Village is a groundbreaking private and public sector development that is designed not only to provide top class facilities for the local community but also act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the Leigh area.
Leigh Sports Village will provide entertainment and enjoyment all year round. The site is open to all and the aim is to involve everybody.
Facilities will include a new state of the art 10,000 seat stadium for Leigh Centurions RLFC, a premier athletic centre, indoor sports centre, swimming pool, grass pitches, club and function pavilion.
Alongside the superb sports facilities will be a hotel, cinema, restaurant and retail space with commercial leisure activities like Bowling. Educational opportunities will also be part of the village.
Andy has played a key role in turning the vision of a multi-use sport and leisure facility into reality.
Andy said, “Leigh Sports Village is the biggest investment in public sports, recreation and educational facilities in the Leigh area for many years and will transform Leigh into a beacon of activity in the North West.
“This exciting project will put pride back into Leigh. It will give our young people access to first class education and sports facilities and improve quality of life for all. It will also help transform the image of the town, acting as a catalyst for future regeneration. I have championed the concept of the Leigh Sports Village all the way and am thrilled by the ground-breaking project that has emerged. It has all the qualities necessary to attract strong support from the community.
A healthy future for Bickershaw
A former colliery site near Leigh is set to benefit from a multi-million pound government grant that will put healthy living at the forefront of a massive regeneration agenda.
Bickershaw Colliery will receive funding of £16.85 million to create open space, a country park, golf course and visitor centre as part of a package of measures to introduce a healthier lifestyle into the area.
The funding is part of an overall package of just under £36 million awarded to Bickershaw by national regeneration agency English Partnerships through its National Coalfields Programme. The programme aims to create new jobs, homes, leisure facilities and open space in former coalfield communities throughout England. In 2004, £19.14 million of funds were approved by English Partnerships to secure a mixed use scheme in the Southern part of the site, next to the Leeds Liverpool Canal.
Andy Burnham said, “Bickershaw Colliery is the largest site within the National Coalfields Programme, covering an area greater than Pennington Flash or Hyde Park and has the potential to make a big impact locally in terms of quality of life for local people and environmental sustainability. I am working closely with Wigan Council and the Northwest Development Agency on a healthy living strategy, exploring ways to encourage active participation in the new facilities, as well as opportunities for reducing carbon emissions through sustainable energy initiatives."
"The new facilities at Bickershaw will complement those at Leigh Sports Village and Greenheart Regional Park. They reflect what people have told us they want, and demonstrate the ambition of all partners to bring about a lasting transformation of the last major area of derelict coalfield land left within our borough."
Wigan Council will deliver the open space element with a free country park and community woodland, a variety of active and passive leisure activities including allotments, walking and cycling trails and two pay-and-play nine-hole golf courses. The visitor centre will include education and nature facilities, play equipment and a landscaped outdoor events arena. A planning application for the site will be submitted in 2007 and a start on site is expected early 2008.
The Northwest Regional development Agency (NWDA) is bringing forward the southern part of the site with up to 650 new homes and a marina with the potential for waterside bars, restaurants and shops.
The proposed mix of housing, commercial units, open space and recreation uses means the project partners are in a unique position to create a fully integrated and sustainable community, contributing to the government's agenda on climate change and minimising the impact on the environment, while delivering health and housing benefits.
Regeneration of Gibfield Park
GIBFIELD has gone to the dogs! The flagship 300 acre business park and leisure project in Atherton recently scored a major coup by attracting the new regional headquarters of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
The association is moving its HQ and dog supply unit to Gibfield and will be used to train up to 100 guide dogs at a time. When the new centre opens in early 2008 it is anticipated that it could bring as many as 100 new jobs to the area.
The entire Gibfield project will create 200 acres of country park with footpaths, bridleways, wildlife habitats and grazing land. The site will also include a 34 acre business park, 450 houses with a district centre, a strategic road link and streamside nature walk.