“GREAT progress is being made” on the regeneration of Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows, says the leader of St Helens Council.

Labour won a huge majority in the General Election on July 4 and, following that, formed a Government.

Speaking during the leader’s announcements in the full council meeting on Wednesday, St Helens Council leader Cllr Anthony Burns said the country has “voted for change”.

The Labour politician stated “although there is no magic solution to undo the damage of 14 years of brutal austerity, we are delighted to finally have a Government who cares for places like ours”.

Cllr Burns also said, last week, he wrote to the new Government, both on behalf of the council but also as a member of the City Region together with the Combined Authority, to ensure that St Helens and the Liverpool City Region “stand out as an authority and a region with ambition and a successful track record of delivery, so that we can engage in effective joint working with our new Government”.

He added: “Our proposition to Government highlights some of the great developments we have in the pipeline for our borough, including the regeneration of our two town centres, the development of the St Helens manufacturing and innovation campus, and the regeneration of Parkside West, and exciting work we’re doing around artificial intelligence.

“We also asked for more powers around devolution, as well as opportunities for funding for more affordable homes and resources to better support the social care sector and its workforce.

“We hope that this will start us off on a great partnership footing with our new Government, and it was great to see some of this mentioned in the King’s Speech today.”

Furthermore, Cllr Burns said “great progress is being made” on the regeneration of Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows.

He highlighted that, having secured approval for 800,000 square metres in the first phase and approval for three large industrial units on the site, Parkside Regeneration – a joint venture between the council and Langtree – launched a public consultation on the plans for phase two, which closes today, Thursday.

Cllr Burns highlighted that the phase will see an additional 160,000 square metres of development, earmarked for advanced manufacturing businesses.