2018 marks the centenary of the end of World War One and this year the arrangements have been revised to reflect the increased numbers of people expected to take part.

The day will begin with a short service at the Pals Memorial Statue on the Flat Iron car park. Following this, the parade will process directly to the Cenotaph in Astley Park for the Service of Remembrance. Due to the limit on the number of people who can fit into the church, this year there will be a slightly longer service at the Cenotaph instead of having a service at the church.

The schedule for the event is as follows:
9.55am: All uniformed groups and civic party including Councillors to assemble at the Flat Iron car park in Union Street.
10.10am: Parade will form up on the Flat Iron car park.
10.25am: Short service at the Chorley Pals Memorial Statue.
10.30am-10.35am: Parade to depart and proceed directly to the Cenotaph in Astley Park.
Approx. 10.40am: Service of Remembrance to commence at the Cenotaph.
Approx. 11.30am: Following the service, tea and coffee will be served in the Lancastrian.

Don’t forget to buy your tickets for the Festival of Remembrance concert taking place in the Lancastrian next Saturday, 10 November at 7.30pm. This is a special evening to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War and will feature Chorley & District Choral Society, Formby Band, pupils from St Michael’s High School with commentator the Rt. Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP. The event will also include an Act of Remembrance and marches representing the Royal British Legion, Veterans and the three armed forces.

Tickets are £8 and available from the Civic Offices in Union Street, Malcolm’s Musicland or the Choral Society on 01772 455185.

Today (6 November) the Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its draft recommendations on the new ward boundary arrangements for Chorley Council.

A consultation has now been launched on the draft recommendations and will run until 14 January 2019.

A reminder of the Central Lancashire Local Plan Member Leaning Hour taking place on Monday, 12 November at 6pm-7pm in Committee Room 1 at the Town Hall.

The session will provide an overview of what’s involved in producing a new Central Lancashire Local Plan, which is being undertaken jointly by the three councils of Chorley, Preston and South Ribble. The Central Lancashire Local Plan Team will present how an innovative approach is being undertaken in Central Lancashire in order to work strategically on our plan whilst also sharing costs and resources. The session will not only present an opportunity to find out what the new Central Lancashire Local Plan Team are doing but also provide information as to how Members can get involved in plan-making.

This session is open to borough Councillors and Parish/Town Councillors however, due to spaces available we kindly ask that no more than two Members from each Parish/Town Council attend.

If you wish to attend the session, please let Nina Neisser know on nina.neisser@chorley.gov.uk

Families looking for days out in the run up to Christmas should check out Chorley for a whole host of festive fun and events, including the return of the popular Chorley Winter Wonderland.

Chorley Council has organised a fantastic Christmas line-up to keep the whole family entertained with everything from a real ice rink and festive tepee to Astley Illuminated, festive market stalls, a pantomime and Chorley’s Santa Express.

The festivities will begin on Saturday, 17 November with Chorley’s Christmas lights switch on event in the town centre. This will be followed by Astley Illuminated – the free event which sees Astley Hall transformed with lights on Saturday, 24 November.

On Sunday, 25 November, Totally Locally Chorley businesses and traders have organised a Christmas market along Chapel Street in Chorley town centre with special appearances by the Chorley Elf.

Back by popular demand, Chorley’s Winter Wonderland will open on Cleveland Street car park on Saturday 8 December until Sunday, 6 January and will include a real ice rink, festive food, drink and craft stalls, a Bavarian fun house and ride for children and the return of Betty’s Tipis serving delicious drinks.

Plus Father Christmas will once again be setting up his very-own post box in Market Walk shopping centre where children are invited to post their letter to him and listen out for his message. While every Saturday in December there will be Christmas arts and crafts and other entertainment in Market Walk.

Chorley’s Santa Express will also be running every weekend in December with tickets still available for Saturday, 1 December after the other seven dates sold out in just over two weeks.

Dozens of new parking spaces are available for shoppers in Chorley town centre as work to build the £12 million Market Walk shopping centre gets underway.

As diggers rolled in to start building the extension, which will bring a M&S Foodhall, with click and collect, and a six-screen Reel Cinema, the ground floor of the new two-level car park on Friday Street was opened.

It comes as work starts on creating another 35 spaces on Park Road to give visitors to Chorley town centre plenty of choice when it comes to car parking.

Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, said: “We know how important it is for traders and visitors that there is plenty of parking so as we promised we are creating lots of new spaces to ensure people can get easy access to the shopping streets while work takes place.

“We’ll see more than 350 new parking spaces opening between now and the middle of November so it will give everyone a timely boost as the Christmas shopping period gets underway, particularly with all our car parks, except the Flat Iron, having some element of free parking.”

The new spaces being made available are:
• Up to 100 new spaces are now open on the ground floor of Friday Street car park
• Work is underway to create 35 free and unlimited parking bays on Park Road, to the north of archway the entrance to Astley Park
• The whole of the new two-level Friday Street car park will be open in mid-November providing 316 spaces that will be wider than the standard parking bays making it ideal for shoppers.

New waste collection calendars are going to be delivered from week commencing 12 November to all households.

Calendars will be placed under the lids of brown bins (or blue/grey bins where no brown bin is presented). This will take place over four weeks starting on Monday, 12 November and should be completed by Friday, 7 December. The calendars start from December and include details of Christmas collection arrangements. The calendars will also be available online from early December.

There are no garden waste collections between 25 December and 18 January. Garden waste vehicles will be used to move additional paper and card and dry recyclate over this period. Garden waste collections resume from Monday, 21 January.

From April 2019 bin collections will take place on Bank Holidays (except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day).

At its meeting on 17 October, members of Chorley Liaison received a briefing note which provided an update of the electoral review and the next steps in the process.

Everything is on track for the Retirement Village development to be completed in March.

The roof is expected to be completed in mid-November, a show apartment has been opened for people interested in taking one of the apartments, and the following works are being undertaken from now until January 2019:
- Completion of the final areas of masonry and roof.
- Removal of scaffolding.
- Start of work to improve the appearance around the boundary of the site and footpath to Fleet Street.

The project includes the design and construction of 65 new retirement apartments over 3 storeys, including a restaurant and dance studio.

If you know a friend or family member who could benefit from learning to read and write then Chorley Council is running a four-week course to help people develop these important skills.

The focus of the sessions is to provide basic English skills for those who want to gain employment but struggle with reading and cannot write very well.

This is a safe first step towards a more positive future for adults who may feel that the system has forgotten about them and that they have been let down by education generally.

Chorley Council is working with local company ‘Creating Excellence’ to design the sessions so they make a difference for everyone attending.

There will be a course open day on Tuesday, 13 November and the four-week course will start on Tuesday, 20 November. The sessions will be held at the United Reformed Church Hall, off Hollinshead Street, and run from 10am-1pm.

For more information please call 01257 515151.