PLANS to provide a new Cinema, theatre and cultural centre for the Ribble Valley have moved a giant step forward after a brainstorming meeting between the partners involved in the scheme.

Talks have been under way for a year between Ribble Valley Borough Council and charities the Trinity Community Partnership and the Lancaster Foundation to find a single site in Clitheroe for a new cultural centre.

But following a major brainstorming session, the parties decided the best way of speeding up the project was by developing two separate sites around the town centre -- the Grade Two listed Grand Cinema on York Street and the market car park off New Market Street.

The cash has been donated by the Lancaster Foundation, and founder John Lancaster, head of Clitheroe-based firm Ultraframe, has pledged to give up to £3million to fulfil the project's aims.

The charity, which supports local initiatives for youngsters, has also promised to improve facilities for young people at the Clitheroe skate park in the castle grounds.

A spokesperson for Ribble Valley Borough Council said: We are delighted that this exciting project is one step nearer to providing a wide range of community, youth, arts, cultural and leisure facilities for the area."

The Trinity Community Partnership, based at Wesleyan Row, Clitheroe, helps people through a range of educational and support-based projects, including a programme for volunteers.

Gill Bailey, chair of the Trinity Community Partnership's board of trustees, said: "Our board has endorsed the new proposals in the belief that they present the most exciting plans for town centre development for many years."

Director and community development officer for the Partnership Geoff Jackson added: "These new projects will lead to significant social, cultural and economic benefits for the Ribble Valley by creating a much broader cultural base, through developing a significant number of new jobs, and by investing in the future of the Ribble Valley through its young people.

"I believe that the projects will help encourage the development of many other new community economic projects through Clitheroe's participation in the Countryside Agency's Market Town Initiative programme."

Plans to redevelop the Grand Cinema site have been in the pipeline for some time, but its recent Grade Two listing had left those involved in the new project frustrated at how limited the changes could be.

But after last week's meeting, the building will now be re-developed a centre for young people, containing performance space, sound recording and rehearsal studios.

The market car park will house a more community-orientated cultural centre containing a two-screen cinema and theatre, gallery and meeting room space.

Work to adapt the Grand Cinema could start as soon as September 2002, while the development of a new cultural centre on the market site will be the subject of a major feasibility study set to be carried out by Ribble Valley Borough Council.