Strengths and weaknesses of Ribble Valley’s main towns and villages have been laid-out in a new report designed to help them attract visitors after the pandemic and develop their visitor economies for the future.

Clitheroe, Longridge and Whalley’s strengths include good independent shops, food and hospitality businesses, events and festivals, friendly people and pride in towns and villages.

But weaknesses include a lack of district-wide marketing,  poor public spaces, weak digital skills among some retailers, a lack of young people’s attractions, expensive business property, a lack of co-working spaces and not enough provision for cyclists.

People also place unrealistic expectations on Ribble Valley Borough Council and are confused about borough, town and county councils, the report adds.

For visitors outside the area, on-line information about the valley, especially on social media, is hard to find, according to the new report.

Marketing work is needed to promote the area’s three main centres in a co-ordinated way so they all benefit from tourism, say consultants.

The report is by a consultancy firm called Ark and was commissioned by the borough council.

It forms part of the borough’s wider work linked to the government-backed Welcome Back Fund, which awards Westminster and EU cash (some of which remains despite Brexit) to local councils to promote the recovery of towns following the pandemic lock-downs and to help them evolve for the future.

Aims include improving the appearance of shopping areas, strengthening the longer-term position of retail within local economies,  responding to new developments and running test projects to enhance tourism.

Councillors on the borough's economic development committee will debate their findings later this month. The report acknowledges some work has been done to address highlighted issues.

Its findings state: “The overarching issue across the borough and it’s centres is the lack of co-ordination of activity and communications.

“The county, borough and town councils and the various business groups have access to the resources required to deliver the strategic direction set out in this report. The challenge is achieving the consensus required to enable delivery and targeted funding applications.

“For example the closure of Castle Street in Clitheroe was not widely supported due to a lack of consultation, as a result of the council being required to deliver the activity at pace. There is, however, support for looking at this in partnership to identify the best solution.

“The key to the future of the borough and its centres (towns and villages) lies in their ability to form effective working partnerships between all parties, both within each centre but also across the wider borough.”