A COUNCIL boss has signalled his intentions to create jobs from ‘Brierfield to Barnoldswick’ – as part of a £33 million plan to expand a business park.

Plans are being formulated to expand the West Craven Business Park in Earby, which is currently home to the likes of Wardle Storeys, Weston and The Envelope Works, as part of the borough council’s economic strategy, which could bring nearly 2,000 positions to Pendle and beyond.

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The authority is looking for an initial £3.5 million from the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Deal allocation to kickstart a £32.9 million initiative which would see around 15.4 hectares of land, behind the Punch Bowl pub, eventually redeveloped.

Council leader Cllr Mohammed Iqbal said: “Our group and the Liberal Democrats have been working together to expand the business base across the whole of Pendle.

“And already West Craven Business Park has been successful in attracting businesses to the borough and this funding bid would help to extend the business park even further.

“We all know that improving our business offering is the only game in town, when it comes to attracting funding into the borough, and we are determined to create jobs from Brierfield to Barnoldswick.”

Major projects at the other end of the borough include the £32 million masterplan to overhaul Brierfield Mill, now known as Northlight, and another possible Growth Deal scheme, where the council is seeking £3.6 million for a second phase of the Lomeshaye industrial estate, which would see an access road created to the Padiham bypass.

But with £157.4 million being sought by a variety of authorities for a range of economic projects, under the Growth Deal’s umbrella, bidders are being warned that only the most promising will be advanced.

Martin Kelly, the county council’s economic development director, said: “In preparing a final submission to government, we will be expected to prioritise our scheme proposals.”

This had been the process undertaken by the economic development for previous Growth Deal rounds and submissions will be gauged against the volume of private and public money leveraged, value for money and deliverability., among other criteria.