IT'S difficult to think of anyone who would rate 2001 as a good year.

But in East Lancashire some changes did get under way which promise hope for long term improvements to people's working and leisure lives.

In Blackburn the long awaited Church Street pedestrianisation took shape linking the shopping centre with the attractive cathedral area.

Although its birth has been painful and there is still some way to go in transforming the town centre (like revamping Lord Square and cleaning up Penny Street) the Church Street plans are a good idea which everyone hopes will live up to their billing.

Likewise in Burnley the new owners of the shopping centre have talked of a welcome 'expansion and modernisation.'

Meanwhile on a darker note Hyndburn, Burnley and Blackburn have all seen devastating factory closures and job losses this year which demand action from all community and council leaders as well as MPs. They must unite in 2002 to put the fight for greater investment in the area into a much higher gear.

The same effort needs to be put into repairing the enormous damage to our rural economy, especially in the Ribble Valley, caused by the appalling scourge of foot and mouth disease this year.

The partnership between Capita and Blackburn with Darwen Council has already borne fruit with the announcement of the first batch of jobs in a centre for chasing up BBC TV licence money.

The sort of white collar work this link-up is aimed at attracting should bring with it spending power to enrich the whole local economy.

But this will not immediately help another cause for concern - the run down state of so many of East Lancashire's ageing council estates and tatty terraced streets.

It would be nice to be able to report some real progress in ridding ourselves of buildings that are not fit to be called homes in 2002.

Last, but far from least, are the lessons to be learnt from the Burnley riots.

In the aftermath of the disorder there have been acknowledgements that there are racial prejudice issues across East Lancashire (in both the Asian and white communities).

Let's hope that out of those desperate scenes comes a meaningful progress towards building a community where understanding and mutual respect triumph over bitterness and ignorance.