Delays to Accrington town square regeneration

The completion of two key projects for the regeneration of Accrington town square has slipped back to July next year.

The new dates are given in a report to Hyndburn Council’s cabinet meeting on Wednesday by town centres and transformation boss Cllr Clare Pritchard.

She tells her senior colleagues that the completion date for the works to Accrington Market Hall and Burton’s Chambers are now expected to be in July 2026.

Previously it had been pencilled in for March 31 – the end of the current financial year.

Following the completion of phase one of the works, conservation specialist Krol Corlett was appointed to undertake the second phase of work on the two buildings.

These include full internal fit-out works to Market Hall and Burtons Chambers, the re-covering to the roof of Burtons Chambers, and further replacement of roof glazing, guttering and safety walkway to the Market Hall roof.

The two projects are part of a major £25million regeneration of Accrington Town Square.

The wider project also includes the transformation of the existing Heritage-listed Market Hall into a vibrant food and drink destination alongside traditional market stalls and new leisure offering.

The Burton Chambers will also be converted into a modern co-working space, and the Market Chambers building will be prepared for future transformation into a cultural and heritage venue.

Cllr Pritchard’s report says: “At the time of writing the report, the contractor’s programme shows a working assumption that the works to the Burtons Chambers will be completed by July 6 2026, and the Market Hall by July 13 2026.

“Within the last update to the funders in May 2025, the council’s working assumption for completion date on the Market Hall and Burtons Chambers was Quarter Four of the financial year 2025/26.

“Whilst the assumption provides for Burtons Chambers to be completed first, the council has requested the contractor to consider completing the Market Hall first, to allow for the temporary cabins to be removed at the earliest opportunity.

“Discussions will continue with the contractor to understand if there is any opportunity to bring this date forward.

“Once the removal of the temporary market cabins on the town square is completed, it is likely some repairs will be needed to the existing paving.

“At present, it is unknown/uncosted and it has been agreed any repair work will be managed directly by the council.

“At the end of the phase one, the project cost consultants reported £14.3m expenditure against £25.1m of available funding (£20m government Levelling Up funding, £3,6m from Hyndburn Borough Council and £1.5m of match funding from Lancashire County Council). This leaves a remaining budget of £10.8m.

“Further provisional sum adjustments relating to the agreed scope of works were added to Krol Corlette’s tender price and an agreed phase two signed contract to the value of £10,5m.

“Two areas of increased costs highlighted during the tender process / contract negotiation alongside general inflationary costs was the extended programme which requires additional client professional fees, temporary trader cabin hire etc. and an additional risk allowance from the contractor relating to the existing building structures and works undertaken by the phase one contractor.

“The phase two contract cost plus the client fees/costs gives a total cost of £11m.

“The project team have recommended that the council holds an additional ‘Client Contingency’ to address any unknown costs that may arise during the remaining phase two works or to cover any council driven variations or additional work requests.

“A prudent level of contingency would be to hold five per cent of the project budget, £500,000.

“The current development phase work for Market Chambers is being funded through a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant together with match funding from the council.

“During this development phase, internal designs will be concluded following a long period of community consultation and a delivery phase bid is likely to be submitted in May 2026.

“If successful, the internal redevelopment work within Market Chambers will be undertaken through a Heritage Fund delivery phase across the financial years 2026/27 to 2028/29.”