East Lancashire's population rises but two boroughs fall (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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East Lancashire's population rises but two boroughs fall
9:02am Tuesday 17th July 2012 in News
By Jessica Cree, Education reporter
Tony Duckworth
THE population of East Lancashire has increased by more than 11,000 in the last 10 years, according to new figures.
Blackburn with Darwen saw the biggest growth since the 2001 census, with 9,000 more people living in the borough, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
But Burnley’s population dropped from 89,500 to 87,000, a drop of almost three per cent, and Hyndburn’s fell from 81,500 to 80,700.
Blackburn with Darwen also had the largest average household size in the North West, with 2.5 people, and the largest proportion of people under the age of five.
Almost 30 per cent of people in Blackburn with Darwen were aged under 19, the largest figure in the whole of the North West.
Tony Duckworth, president of Blackburn Chamber of Trade, said the borough’s young population had helped it secure schemes like the Building Schools for the Future Project.
He said: “A young population can be a positive thing if you take advantage of it, but we cannot find jobs for our young people. They go off to university and rarely come back because we don’t have the jobs to attract them.
“We are possibly looking at pressures on young people too.”
Pendle, Rossendale and the Ribble Valley also saw population increases over the 10 year period, although the Ribble Valley still has the second fewest people in the North West.
The ONS figures showed nearly all local authorities across England and Wales increased in population, however, eight in the North West saw a decrease. Hyndburn and Haslingden MP Graham Jones said: “Depopulation is a deep worry.
“The immediate problem is there are 2,500 empty properties and this population drop has probably added some 400 plus.
“It’s hard to justify new house building with population falls yet the borough needs choice, building investment and modernity.”
East Lancashire’s population has grown from 518,500 to 529,800.
Comments(3)
mavrick
says...
10:38am Tue 17 Jul 12
Depopulation of the mentioned boroughs could be an opportunity to clear and rebuild the older housing stock. Much of this stock is at the end of it's life and is in dire need of replacing. I have to say we could reuse a lot of the materials to rebuild with, we need quality solid build homes not the timber frame plasterboard rubbish being foisted on the population. We also need good quality jobs for everybody not just the young. We just need the political will and finance to make it happen, will we get it from this coalition?
prince of darkness
says...
2:45pm Tue 17 Jul 12
Commenting wrote:No doubt the addition of Jack Straws refugees will swell these numbers. We wont have any heritage history for our Grandchildren left.
An additional 9000 people, mostly younger people would seem to be an advantage with an ageing population.
No such thing unfortunately.
The increase is mainly as a result of spouces from abroad and an increased birthrate amongst the Asian population who in the main do not contribute to society generally.
Unless measures are taken by the relevant authorities (small chance) our towns heritage will be wholly swallowed up by an Indo-Pak culture.
verbal discharge says...
9:53am Tue 17 Jul 12
Hmmm - I wonder why...........?