A PROJECT to develop a plan to transform Tyldesley town centre is moving forward.
Tyldesley resident Ian Tomlinson's community transport charity Driven was awarded £1.7m in principle from Historic England (HE) to make improvements to Elliott Street over the next four years.
His friend, Paul Kinsella, works in construction and will be using his expertise on the project.
The friends are in charge of creating a Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) in which they will set out to bring around six buildings back into use and boost the town’s shopping and social experience.
It is also hoped money will be provided by property owners through match funding.
Last week, Ian and Paul led three Historic England representatives round a tour of Tyldesley.
One of the representatives, Jayne Rimmer, has been appointed as project lead.
The tour group outside one of the buildings in Tyldesley that may be invested in through the project. From left; Iain Hodcroft, Saeed Pouya, Jayne Rimmer, Paul Kinsella, Ian Tomlinson, Madeline Martin, Ian Rowan, Callum, Elaine Rhind, Nick Rhind and Graham Walsh
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Paul said the pair have been set a deadline of December 20 to finalise a development plan.
He said: "The tour went well and the Historic England representatives were impressed with the level of community support for our bid and enjoyed meeting the traders and residents while we toured the town.
"The next step for us now is to start the consultation phase and we are putting together an action plan to makes sure that as many people as possible can contribute is the short time we have available.
"We are up against the clock now as we have until December 20 to complete a development plan.
"We have to do a community consultation, collate and prioritise the outcomes, develop a scheme of works, cost up a full spend profile and write the plan."
The friends are arranging a visit to Prescot in Merseyside where a similar town transformation scheme has been adopted.
Paul and Ian have also met with Wigan Council, which has offered extra support and appointed a main contact from the heritage team.
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