Skelmersdale Town Centre Masterplan Consultation.

West Lancashire Borough Council, Lancashire County Council and Tawd Valley Development have been working with appointed consultants Tetra Tech (TT) and Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) to prepare a draft regeneration plan for Skelmersdale town centre including the former Glenburn school site to the south of the main town centre.

The draft plan has three key proposed components, with each part containing several projects. The ambition is to deliver a coordinated scheme delivered as one regeneration project.

1. Core Town Centre proposals
2. Glenburn site development
3. Town Park proposals

There are 9 projects in total,

1. Core Town Centre proposals

• Circa 182 new residential apartments,
• Ground floor accommodation for commercial uses such as places for food and beverage.
• A business start-up centre (Business Incubator)
• Improvement to the pedestrian areas including better linkages across the town centre
• A Wellbeing and Leisure Hub

2. Business Incubator

• Building of a new small business facility.
• Providing managed workspace
• Supporting people into work and providing essential business skills and coaching
• To be located close to West Lancashire College and encouraging apprenticeships/ placements and potential fledgling businesses

3. Refurbished and enhanced library

• Upgrade of the existing library facility
• Improved external features into and out of the library, creating more space for activities and events

4. Concourse Shopping Centre

• Improvements to the Western entrance area of the Concourse
• Improved public spaces
• Improvements to the bus station and how it connects to the town centre

The plan is a proposal of how the town centre could be improved, strengthened, and how its visual and environmental appearance, accessibility and travel could be improved for both residents and visitors.

This consultation is an opportunity for the Council and their appointed consultants to gather the views from the local community which can then inform the next steps of the plan.

5. Glenburn Site Redevelopment

• Major new residential development of circa 425 new and affordable homes for sale and rent
• Connections between Glenburn and town centre by walkable footbridge, linking the two areas, making access easier and safer
• Potential to include a railway station
• Environmental setting

6. New Rail Station

Alongside the proposals for the residential development at the former Glenburn site a new rail station is proposed.

• The train station would add to the existing sustainable transport links to local and regional destinations such as Wigan, Manchester and Liverpool
• enabling work related or leisure trips without relying on private vehicles.

7. Improved Town Park proposals

• Upgrade of the existing Tawd Valley Park in the heart of the town centre to create a safe, well defined, and attractive formal park.
• Linkages across the Tawd Valley would be improved, including a new footbridge.

8. Tawd Valley Visitor Centre & Refurbishment of the Amphitheatre

• Development of a new visitor centre for the Tawd Valley Park.
• The visitor centre could host education, leisure and recreation activities and business.
• Refurbishment of the amphitheatre space to improve the existing outdoor facility as a venue for more events.

9. Yewdale Residential Development

• Development of circa 18 new, 100% affordable homes overlooking the Tawd Valley and amphitheatre space.

Most of the funding for the proposed masterplan will be from the private sector. It is expected that some of the projects proposed such as the Visitor Centre, Business Incubator and Train Station will require funding from central Government and that some of the affordable housing, roads and infrastructure will require funding support from the Governments home building and regeneration agency Homes England.

West Lancashire Borough Council may consider investing in some of the affordable housing planned to complement its existing housing stock. Following approval of the masterplan discussions with potential funding partners will take place and funding from both public and private sector partners is subject to financial decision making of respective organisations which will take place at different stages during the life of this long-term project.

Thank you for taking to time to read the information above, we hope you found it helpful. For more detailed information you can visit our Virtual Exhibition here, where you can see a virtual tour of the Masterplan and view each project board in more detail.

We are keen to understand your views on the draft Skelmersdale Town Centre Masterplan before it is finalised and would be grateful if you could take the time to read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and complete the questionnaire below.