Way ahead for young people

Burnley Community Plan has already been formalised and passed by the borough council, but now a special version will be put together for youngsters.

"Young people are a vital element of our plan and are represented by four members of the Burnley Youth Council on the Burnley Action Partnership," a council spokesman said.

The plan, produced by Burnley Action Partnership, sets out medium and long term action needed to raise the profile of the borough and to develop a vibrant and prosperous town.

Burnley Action Partnership was formed earlier this year and brings together leading representatives from the community, public sector agencies like the police and health service, and businesses.

The spokesman added: "We intend to produce a special version of the Burnley Community Plan to engage young people, making it real, and particularly aiming to work with local schoolchildren on its messages."

The plan, which is linked to the findings of the Task Force report into last year's Burnley riots, sets out four key objectives:

To become a diverse and united community

To develop a modern economy

To make Burnley a healthy, safe and clean borough

To provide high quality "joined up" services to Burnley people -- and how they can be achieved. It covers every area of life from health and education to housing, crime and employment and is backed up by the council's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy which sets out in detail how improvements can be achieved.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that within the next 20 years no one in the borough should be seriously disadvantaged by where they live.

Council leader Stuart Caddy said Burnley Community Plan is one of the most important issues put before the council.

He added: "This is all about us making a Burnley that we can all be proud of with a diverse and united community, with a happy, safe and clean environment.

"We also want to see quality services which work together for the good of the public in Burnley."