The Oswaldtwistle PROSPECTS Panel was originally set up in June 1998. The panel is currently dormant but we are very interested in resurrecting it if we can find people who want to help us do that.
The Panel primarily concentrated on three key projects, Coach Road Meadow, Tinker Brook Tree Nursery and the Millennium Baby Woodland plus support for the borough-wide Canal Improvement Project.
Coach Road Meadows
This site is 10-acre field adjacent to a small terrace called Hill Street. Some years ago a group of residents in the local area got together to protect this parcel of land when it became clear that the owners, William Blythe Chemicals, were intending to sell the site. The PROSPECTS Foundation came to the rescue with a plan to develop a 'Green Business Park' on the site and the Oswaldtwistle PROSPECTS Panel was set up. Following the purchase of the site it was then thoroughly surveyed and an outline planning application was then submitted to Hyndburn Borough Council. The Foundation is still looking at ways of utilising the site in an environmentally conscious manner.
Tinker Brook Tree Nursery
Tinker Brook is a small food growing site located at the end of Roe Greave Road in Oswaldtwistle. The site was originally leased by the College from the Council and when the college left the Foundation took on the lease back in 1999. Since then the site has been in constant use as a therapeutic horticulture site for people with mental health issues. Key features of the site include the Straw Bale building which houses two toilets. This was built back in early 2001 and features a sedum roof. In addition, biodigester unit was installed underground in early 2002 and this ensures that waste from the toilets is treated before being discharged into the watercourse.
The tree nursery element of the site has now ceased but it was the catalyst for the Millennium Baby Woodland located in Altham. The tree nursery originally worked with schoolchildren to collect acorns from local Oak trees and to then grow them on and plant them out in the district.
Millennium Baby Woodland
This project started with the Oswaldtwistle Panel but the site chosen was actually off Burnley Road in Altham. The aim of the project was to plant a tree for babies born in Hyndburn in the year 2000. Funding was sought and the site was finally planted in early 2002 with the help of numerous schools and the local community during tree planting events. Since then the site has grown into an established woodland and is now looked after by the Foundation and the Clayton-le-Moors and Altham PROSPECTS Panel.
Canal Improvement Project
This was a borough-wide project including our other canalside Panels in Church, Clayton & Altham and Rishton. The idea was to carry out a range of projects along the length of the Leeds & Liverpool canal in Hyndburn to make it more welcoming and to encourage people to use it for leisure and travel. In Oswaldtwistle the projects included a mural on the wall at Blythe's, new benches, Welcome to Oswaldtwistle signs, noticeboards and mooring bollards.
Below are some images of these projects.
