'Our town is the best of Lancashire in one place'

Chorley has the best of Lancashire all in one place, the local council has said as it seeks to make the town a top visitor attraction by 2030.

Bosses have drawn up what they call a "destination management plan" for the town and the surrounding areas of countryside.

Council leader Alistair Bradley said the authority would be working with local people and businesses to achieve its aim, adding: "We need to speak up for Chorley".

"Those of us who live here know how great it is, and other people come here plenty, but we want to see more of them," he said.

Bradley said Chorley already welcomed three million visitors a year, with 2,000 jobs relying on those people spending nearly £2m, but "we think we can do more than that".

"We're just happy if people come for a day, two days, spend a bit of time here in Chorley," he said.

"The number of people who go up Rivington alone is thousands in the summer.

"Chorley has a bit of everything that Lancashire has, whether it's hills and mountain biking and walking, quaint villages with nice pubs and paces to eat, shopping in the town centre, it's a great place."

One visitor from Wigan told BBC Radio Lancashire: "It's only 20 minutes from Wigan and there's a nice shopping centre and the market's nice, but holidays? No I don't think so."

But Chorley resident, Barbara Snaylam, said: "We've got everything now in Chorley, we've lovely markets and shops.

"They come from all over now, Burnley, Blackburn, all over, because the markets are really good."

The 78-year-old added: "If you like countryside you could go up Rivington, Anglezark and all round there is lovely."

Nigel Mountain, 68, also from Chorley, said he thought there were "more tourists coming now than before" and "it would build the town up".

"Birkacre has got a good garden centre, there's a cafe down there, he said.

"I go fishing there, there's two lakes and they've got an area for children and you'd have a really good day down there.

"But there's not a lot of hotels."

"If they want to make it a tourist attraction they can," Joe Pownall, 75, said. "There are some places of interest, Astley village and Rivington.

"The outskirts are worth looking at round Astley Park."

"But I don't think the town centre's much," he added.

"They've obviously sat down and thought of more places of interest than I can, but let them go ahead with it.

"It's going to fetch money into the town."

• Chorley Market - dating back to 1498
• Hoghton Tower - Grade I listed Hall, where King James I so enjoyed a loin of beef that he knighted it "Sir Loin"
• Bygone Times - a 17th Century former cotton mill and home over 500 stalls of antiques and collectables
• Astley Hall - 16th Century Grade I historic house and park
• The terraced gardens at Rivington, children's playgrounds at Yarrow Valley and canal boats on the Leeds and Liverpool canal

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