THE former leader of Darwen Town Council has called on councillors to ‘think outside the box’ to come up with a master plan for the town.

Steve Duncan, who stood down at the elections in May last year, said although he thought the council was doing a good job, political differences should be put aside in order to make positive changes.

Mr Duncan said: “Now the town council is bedded in I believe it should start looking at the bigger picture of how it can really influence not only Darwen as it now stands but the Darwen of the future.

“I refer in particular to the strategic vision that was developed some years ago and which, to my knowledge, has never been revised.

“It talks about making Darwen a place people want to visit and come to live, it talks about having no empty shops, it talks about bringing jobs to Darwen.

“The town council should develop a strategy for Darwen and lobby the borough council.

“Councillors need to think outside the ‘town council’ box and their own political agendas and really come up with a master plan for Darwen that will benefit the town for the next 50 years.”