The first phase of work on Skelmersdale’s town centre regeneration by project partners St. Modwen, West Lancashire Borough Council and Homes England will start in January bringing forward the long awaited development scheme.  Property developer St. Modwen will  start enabling works on the site in the heart of the town that will see 100,000 sq ft of town centre mixed-use (retail and leisure) accommodation delivered in phases.

The enabling work which will start in January will see the clearance of trees and shrubbery from the Town Centre zone of Tawd Park and will prepare the site for construction work for the town centre scheme to begin in the Spring of 2019.  The main construction work is anticipated to take 12 months to complete with the enabling works being completed by the end of February.

The scheme is moving forward following an agreement by West Lancashire Borough Council, who are working alongside St. Modwen and development partner Homes England, in the summer to secure funding that will see the delivery of  the long awaited £19 million project that has been proposed since 2007.

Plans for the town centre include extensive works  to the public realm, including improvements to the Tawd Valley and  a new pedestrian link between West Lancashire College and the Concourse Shopping Centre, as well as enhancements to the public areas outside the library and Nye Bevan Pool. The improvements will also link to the Tawd Valley and bring this into the heart of the new development.

Over the last fortnight, the Ranger Service, working with Parks and Countryside Volunteer Rangers, student placements from Pontville School and West Lancs college and Team Tawd (the Friday group) to progress the community orchard.  Between them they have constructed 250m of path which links from the riverside to Manfield and passes through the new orchard. They have also built a bridge, which crosses to the next field.

On Saturday 3^rd November the Friends of the Tawd and other volunteers scattered poppy and wildflower seeds and prepared the ground for when the fruit trees arrive. The poppy seeds are scattered as an end-of-WW1 commemoration.

The orchard is going to become a WW1 commemoration orchard and any suggestions for a name are welcome!