Clitheroe the Future Partnership formed in April 2001 following a public meeting held at Ribblesdale High School, Clitheroe, to address the issues concerning the decline of Clitheroe and what local residents could do to help reverse this trend.
Prior to this Ribble Valley Partnership had proposed the formation of a Market Towns sub-group under the leadership of the District Chief Planning Officer. From this Market Town sub-group, representatives from the Chamber of Trade, Town Council and Voluntary sector were invited to look at a community led partnership being formed.
An application was made in June 2001 to participate in the Countryside Agency Market Town Initiative Programme and this was subsequently accepted in August.
At the public meeting in April, attendees were invited to sign up to participate in the Clitheroe Regeneration Partnership. Around 40 people expressed an interest and from this a steering group was formed. An executive committee of 12 was then appointed to co-ordinate actions.
From the steering group, working groups were established to look at the four areas of the Countryside Agency Healthcheck with a 5th group looking at establishing a web-site. The chairperson of each working group was a member of the executive providing a coherent reporting structure.
The executive has met regularly on a monthly basis since its formation, with the steering group meeting on a bi-monthly basis. Working groups met more frequently to identify and collect information as specified by the healthcheck worksheets. By December 2001, 90% of the healthcheck had been carried out by these teams of local volunteers.
In February 2002 a full time co-coordinator was appointed to lead the development of the Action Plan and continue the proactive work of the partnership.
Clitheroe was selected by the Countryside Agency for their support in the government Market Town Initiative Program.
The government Market Town Initiative Programme came into being due to the alarming number of market towns, across the country, heading into decline and turning into dormitory towns. The Initiative Programme is there to help market towns help themselves to regenerate local businesses, communities and the local economy.
Clitheroe on the surface looks idyllic but underneath there are a number of fundamental problems that need addressing.
The Healthcheck developed by the Countryside Agency to give a snapshot of the town has been completed and the group are now into the next phase of development which involves an Action/Business Plan and securing funding for town projects.
