Residents have signed up to support a new £1 million programme for Keighley’s ‘forgotten’ neighbourhoods (From Keighley News)

Residents have signed up to support a new £1 million programme for Keighley’s ‘forgotten’ neighbourhoods

8:00pm Thursday 28th February 2013 in Keighley By David Knights

Two dozen residents have signed up to support a new £1 million regeneration programme for Keighley’s ‘forgotten’ neighbourhoods.

They attended the first of several public meetings aimed at generating interest in the lottery-funded Keighley Valley Project.

Householders are expected to play a central role in deciding how to spend cash from the Big Local programme, which covers an area running from Stockbridge to Wesley Place, and also incorporates Spring Bank, Woodhouse, Parkwood, Thwaites and Worth Village.

Following meetings around the area, a formal partnership will be formed, comprising mostly residents, to develop improvement projects.

These must make a lasting difference to neighbourhoods facing economic and social problems that have been overlooked for investment in the past.

Big Local co-ordinator, Sam Keighley, said more than 25 people attended Friday’s meeting at Parkwood Primary School, including residents from Stockbridge, Parkwood and Hainworth Wood.

She added: “It was mainly residents, which was really encouraging, as the whole programme is about residents leading the way to improve the area.

“There was a buzz in the room. People came to find out what they could do, not what other people could do. They met others they didn’t know, and all showed a commitment to improving their communities.

“They went away to talk to their neighbours, people at the school or in the pub.”

Keighley is one of six areas across Yorkshire and Humber to receive money through the Big Lottery Fund’s Big Local programme.

Keighley’s £1 million will be spent during the next ten years. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, from 10am to 11.30am, at Parkwood Primary School in Parkwood Street.