THE new boss of Rossendale Borough Council has unveiled his vision for the future, including his hopes of transforming the area into a tourism hotspot.

Stuart Sugarman took over on an interim basis from chief executive Helen Lockwood after she stepped down in December, and has now been given the job permanently.

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The dad-of-five had worked for five years as the council's director of business and monitoring officer.

Speaking from the council offices at Futures Park, Bacup, he said: "I want to build on our tourism offering and make more of it.

"This place is very pretty. It is a nice place for people to visit and it is about making the most of that.

"We do not have one thing here, we have a number of things.

"We have Ski Rossendale and Lee Quarry and I think we need to focus on things like that more."

Mr Sugarman said he was particularly excited by plans to create a borough-wide cycle network.

He said: "We are working with the county council to develop a cycling route from one end of the borough to the other.

"We will be opening up some interesting tunnel routes that have not been open for 60 or 70 years.

"They will be lit with LED lighting and they will be nice and flat so everyone can enjoy them.

"The health and wellbeing of residents in Rossendale is very important and, as well as attracting people in, this will help keep people fit."

Originally from Hamilton in Scotland, Mr Sugarman came to Rossendale having worked as a solicitor at West Berkshire Unitary Council and as deputy director of resources at Oadby and Wigston Borough Council in Leicestershire.

He lives with his wife Sarah and his five sons, who are aged from five to 18.

Mr Sugarman, who qualified as a solicitor in 1997, said improved transport links were key to Rossendale's development.

He said: "We need a dedicated link to Manchester and I think that is a possibility in the long-term future.

"There is an awful lot of support for this commuter line and I think it would be incredibly good for the borough and for Manchester as well.

"There is a need to make improvements to the road network and the M66 and we work closely with the county council on that."

Mr Sugarman said cuts to funding by the Government were something the council had become accustomed to dealing with.

He said: "Over the past five years we have been working with these cuts and we have a plan going forward now.

"I don't think anyone is going to pretend they are easy but we are now trying to look forward and try to create income."

Mr Sugarman said staff levels at the council had been cut from more than 250 to 158.

He said: "I do not foresee the need for any further staff reductions at this stage.

"But in many ways we are beholden to central government.

"We know that savings will be ongoing and we are just planning for that. That is the new world."