Published Wednesday 19 July 2023 at 17:23
We’ve met with traders from Darwen Market today to update them on the Darwen Town Deal plans.
The Town Deal, with added support from the Council and private investors, will help unlock £100m of new funding for major schemes right across Darwen.
This includes £26m of ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ investment for our town centre. The funding will be used to upgrade heritage buildings, including the Market Hall and Darwen Library Theatre.
These are huge schemes which take a lot of planning.
At the meeting today, we’ve updated the traders to let them know that we’re looking to start the works next summer.
This gives us time to work closely with them and look at the best options for accommodating them while the extensive refurbishment is underway.
Keeping our traders in the town centre during this time and supporting them is our priority.
It will also ensure that the popular Darwen Live event – the largest free live music event in the country – can go ahead as normal in May 2024.
Between now and the end of the year, we will be looking to appoint a developer to undertake the construction work. This is a rigorous and thorough process.
Once they are in place, we will work closely with them on the proposals and with the market traders as well as surrounding businesses to firm up the plans, keeping you updated along the way.
With the Town Deal Board, our priority is to create a thriving town centre, one which supports existing businesses, including our market traders, and offers opportunities for the future.
Once we have more detail we will share them with you.
You can read more about the £100m vision for the Town Deal by clicking this link.
In the meantime, please do continue to support our town centre businesses, including our markets.
You can find out more on the Darwen Town Centre website.
And follow Darwen Market on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DarwenMarket
Thank you