Who says councillors haven't got a sense of humour?

Ormskirk is set to compete against towns from all over the country in the Great British High Street (GBHS) competition.



Great British High Street is an organisation which supports those working to revive, adapt and diversify high streets. The competition aims to celebrate business, people and partnerships which are putting high streets at the heart of their communities; all this when another empty shop was being boarded up yesterday afternoon....



Ormskirk Town Centre Management Group has entered Ormskirk under the ‘Rising Star’ category.

The group felt that given the recent adoption of the Ormskirk Town Centre Strategy and the progress being made on delivering its aims, this would be the ideal time to enter Ormskirk.

A shortlist of a maximum of three finalists for each award category will be drawn up by mid-October; if Ormskirk is shortlisted, a public vote will open for one month during November and the town will be visited by a competition judge during this time.

Councillor Ian Moran, Leader of the Borough Council and portfolio holder for Economic Regeneration, said: “A huge amount of work is being done to help ensure Ormskirk has an even more vibrant and successful future and this competition is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase what we have done so far. If we all get behind Ormskirk then that will help the town with its chances of winning this competition.”

The Ormskirk Town Centre Management Group is made up of West Lancashire Borough Council, representatives from town centre retailers, Ormskirk Community Partnership, Edge Hill University and Edge Hill Students’ Union.

Some of the many actions which have been delivered from the strategy include undertaking market research, resurfacing of Council-owned car parks; installation of footfall monitoring system; delivery of new additional events including Makers’ Markets, Love Your Local Market and the Ormskirk Gingerbread Heritage festival; a general town centre tidy-up and the Moor Street improvement scheme.

Category winners could win a range of prizes including advice on digital marketing.

People can visit www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk to find out more about the competition. For more information about the Ormskirk Town Centre Strategy please visit www.westlancs.gov.uk/regeneration.

Councillor Ian Moran, Leader of the Borough Council and portfolio holder for Economic Regeneration,

I have nothing against ex postmen but it take a large leap of faith to think the experience of a postman is perhaps the best qualification to meet the needs of Economic regeneration of Ormskirk. When I read this article I was hoping it was 1st of April...but then again!

Over to you Jester01

This has to be a joke
Love your market ? Seems like that is just a bit of bunting that's been put up which does nothing ? No idea about makers markets maybe someone could enlighten us ?
As for footfall counting it's an inaccurate sytem it doesn't account for anyone working in the town that is passing through several times a day nor does it account for people like school children or students who pass through the town who are not using the town ? its all just gloss the fact of the matter is a lot of shops are struggling I know of another 4 that are considering Leaving ormskirk very soon due to lack of buisness .

“A huge amount of work is being done to help ensure Ormskirk has an even more vibrant and successful future and this competition is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase what we have done so far. If we all get behind Ormskirk then that will help the town with its chances of winning this competition.”

What work?

There's more empty units now than a few months ago and anyone wishing to enquire about the councils newly acquired units on Burscough Street are met with a wall of incompetence and miscommunication.

But it's ok, we've got gingerbread men all round the town now