Pendle town centres will have promotional activities over the autumn and Christmas season using Government and European Union grants and other funds to draw-back shoppers and visitors.

Across Pendle, a range of marketing proposals and post-lockdown recovery measures for towns are proposed. Individual area committees at Pendle Council will get updates at meetings this week, with the first on Monday, October 4.

In Nelson and Brierfield, the high street recovery plans include a re-branded Lancashire Day and Christmas shopping season event. 

A website promoting both towns, costing £13,000, is being developed along with printed leaflets and other marketing materials. Two digital signs are proposed for Nelson, costing £22,000.

Health and safety items include extra hand sanitiser units and fluid, costing £3,000. New flower planters are proposed for both towns too, costing £5,500.

Pendle Borough Council has had Westminster Government approval for cash support through its Welcome Back Fund programme.  The programme was unveiled earlier this year and is aimed at helping local councils and other organisations to assist town centres in recovering from the pandemic lock-downs.

Updated town recovery allocations of over £35,000 are now earmarked for promoting Nelson and over £17,000 for Brierfield.  The new totals include some remaining grants from an earlier Government scheme, called Reopening High Streets Safely.  The remaining sums are £10,000 and £5,000 for Nelson and Brierfield .

Government funding still includes grants from the EU’s European regional development fund even though the UK has now officially left the EU. European funding is still present in a number of activities linked to local and national government and business development across the UK.

In addition, the borough council has allocated around £9,000  and £4,000 from its own area committee budgets to promote Nelson and Brierfield. Other sums are being allocated for other towns in the borough.

An agenda for this week’s Nelson, Brierfield and Reedley Committee gives more information about the website contract. It states: “The procurement process has ended and we have selected a company called Bucket & Spade. The company will provide websites for all of Pendle’s towns that requested it, which include Nelson, Brierfield and Barnoldswick.  They know how

important it is to involve local businesses in populating information for the site. We will continue to update the committee on progress.”

Bucket & Spade is an agency based in Lancaster.

Regarding events, the agenda states that Nelson Town Council has been  contacted and a Christmas Festival for Nelson and Brierfield is suggested. It adds: “Although this would be a re-working of a Lancashire Day/Christmas event, the importance of bringing in additional and new elements

has been emphasised to comply with the grant conditions.”

In other activities, 30 barrier planters are earmarked for the two towns

Lancashire Day is held on November 27 to celebrate the county and mark the date in 1295 when Lancashire first sent representatives to Parliament.