People are being urged to give their views on Chorley Council’s budget proposals that maintain the authority’s track record of investing in new projects despite huge cuts in government funding.

Plans were agreed at Executive Cabinet on Thursday, 16 January which include a freeze on council tax for all residents, thanks to the investments made by the authority that are bringing in extra income.

The council is now keen to hear views on the proposals that include £5 million of new investment to develop the famous Chorley Markets, regenerate key parts of the town centre and local service centres as well as improving the stock of affordable housing within the borough.

All comments need to be submitted via the consultation below by Sunday, 9 February.

A final reminder to book on to this this year’s Planning in Practice session! The annual session will take place on Monday, 10 February 2020 at 5.45pm until approx. 7.45pm in The Lancastrian, Chorley Town Hall. Hot food will be served from 5.30pm (please could any dietary requirements be specified in advance if not already done so).

The session will be split into five sections focusing on the following topics;
1) Greenbelt
2) Discharge of planning conditions
3) Environmental/ecological impact in regards to planning applications
4) Permitted development
5) CIL

All borough councillors, and two representatives from each parish/town council are invited to attend. If you are a parish/town councillor and would like to attend, your parish/town council clerk will be co-ordinating attendance on behalf of your council. Please could attendance be confirmed to Nina Neisser in Democratic Services by emailing nina.neisser@chorley.gov.uk no later than Friday, 7 February 2020.

This weekend three male youths have been arrested on suspicion of committing criminal damage in the Coppull area to Taxis, Bus shelters and shop signs during the early part of January. One male has been charged to appear at Preston Magistrates court whilst the other two have been bailed pending a decision from the Youth Offending Team.

For more information please visit the Chorley Police Facebook page, linked below.

The Police have thanked the community for their patience during this period and encourage people to keep reporting things to the police on 999 in case of emergencies or 101 in non-emergencies. Alternatively, you can also reports matters via The Online reporting system which can be found using the link below.

Holy Cross pupils are putting pen to paper in a Chorley Council pilot scheme to help bridge the gap between generations and reach out to older people who may be lonely and address social isolation

As part of Chorley Town East Neighbourhood Priorities, Holy Cross have worked with Chorley Council to develop an initiative after they learned of the high numbers people living alone or becoming socially isolated in Chorley East.

Click on the link below to find out more about the project.

Join us at Chorley's Winter Playday 2020 - a free, fun, family event for children and families to join in a range of activities such as crafts, sports, and games.

The event is for families with children up to 12 years old. This year it will take place at Inspire Youth Zone 11:00-15:00. Snacks and refreshments will be available to purchase. Approximate event duration for individual families: 30-90 mins.

Checkout the event on Chorley Council & Inspire Youth Zone's social media for updates.

A new reinforced grass car park and access have been completed at Kem Mill Lane Playing Fields in Whittle-le-Woods to help reduce local parking congestion on match days. Please be advised that the car park will not be available for use until the spring as the grass needs to be given time to develop before vehicles can be allowed on.

The reinforced grass is a fully permeable environmentally sensitive solution which reduces flood risk and avoids the need to pump more water into the highways sewer system.

This project is part of a programme of pitch improvements being delivered by the Open Space Strategy Officers and will be complemented this summer by a full pitch reinstatement and drainage scheme to improve the playing surface and reduce the number of cancelled fixtures due to bad weather over the winter.

Chorley Council's 'Spruce the Parks' project is well underway.

Click the link below to see some of the works completed to date.

The Runshaw College Awards were held at Chorley Town Hall last week and Daniel Cowton, ICT Apprentice from the Customer and Digital Directorate, and Alice Abraham, Events Assistant from the Policy and Governance Directorate, were recognised.

Inspire Youth Zone offers a fun, safe and affordable youth facility for young people aged 8-12 (up to school year 7 only) during the school holidays, with fantastic activities on offer every day including a host of sports, games, arts and crafts, cookery club and much more. Click the link below for more information and to book holiday club places.

Please note that Astley Hall is currently closed until Easter 2020, but Astley Park, Coach House and Café will remain open.

Astley Hall will reopen on 4th April 2020 for the following opening times:

- Monday: 12 – 4.30pm in school/bank holidays
- Tuesday: 12 – 4.30pm in school holidays
- Wednesday: 12 – 4.30pm in school holidays
- Thursday: Closed
- Friday: Closed
- Saturday: 12noon – 4.30pm
- Sunday: 12noon – 4.30pm