RESIDENTS in the Woodnook area of Accrington are being urged to keep up their good work in turning the community around.

A new booklet published by the Woodnook Forum for Action claims that the New Year could be a new start for the trouble-hit area, if residents do their bit.

The forum is challenging locals to come up with ideas for improvement schemes that could attract thousands of pounds in Government funding.

Alf Green, chairman of the forum, said: "This booklet is part of our plan to save our community and it is a tribute to the way so many people have worked together.

"It is the same harmony that is now helping to turn Woodnook around. We have done a lot already and the future is even brighter."

The 21-page Woodnook Book asks people what they want for the future of the community over the next five years, with the plans being taken to the Government's market renewal pathfinder, Elevate East Lancashire, for funding.

It also highlights some of the changes that residents have already brought about in the last four years, including:

  • Introducing the area's own street warden scheme.
  • Creating a rest garden at the junction with Nuttall Street and South Street.
  • A £500,000 Sure Start scheme at Christ Church.
  • Resurfaced back streets and litter-picking projects.

The Rev Kevin Logan, vice-chairman of the forum, said: "Woodnook saved itself in the early Seventies - I know, I had a house in Augusta Street at the time. The place was dying and new funding helped us to make Woodnook a pleasant area in which to live and bring up our children. It is only in the last decade that things have begun to slip.

"Now we're on the up. Great improvements have been made and Government funding can help us to even greater heights. We saved ourselves in the Seventies. We can do it again in this new millennium."