MORE than 220 homes in Burnley will be bulldozed at a cost of £9.4million and a further 240 will be refurbished as part of plans to rejuvenate some of the borough's most deprived areas.

Burnley Council's executive committee last night approved proposals on how to spend the £15m funding it has received under the Elevate East Lancashire programme.

Its chief executive Max Steinberg today said he was looking forward to the challenge.

Executive committee members had been presented with two options which outlined the areas where houses were to be demolished or renovated.

The areas covered by both options were south west Burnley, Burnley Wood and Daneshouse, Stoneyholme and Duke Bar. They went for option one which included different streets to those earmarked for demolition under option two.

Some houses in these areas will be cleared to make way for new homes, community facilities, employment use and open spaces.

The council will also spend £1.7million facelifting properties in Colne Road, one of the gateways to the town, and Accrington Road. The details of which properties are to be revamped will go before the next meeting of the executive.

Its members also approved a raft of other measures, including a vacant property initiative to refurbish and sell empty properties that have become the target of vandals, fly-tippers and arsonists, a project to create public green spaces and an anti-social behaviour mediation project.

The committee also announced that work would start on Neighbourhood Action Plans for Padiham and the Piccadilly and Trafalgar area of Burnley in preparation for the second wave of Elevate funding.

Healey Wood will also be brought into the Burnley Wood Neighbourhood Action Plan for future funding.

Around 20 residents attended the meeting and some questioned the council's decision to include their homes in the demolition plans.

Others urged the council to make sure they were consulted at all stages of the process.

Speaking at the meeting, council leader Stuart Caddy stressed that the plans were aimed at building a sustainable and prosperous future for the borough.

He said: "This is not just about demolition or facelifting, and it is not just about the areas within the report. It is about the whole intervention area, right across the borough.

"If we tackle the housing but we don't tackle the other problems, such as anti-social behaviour and the economy, then we will fail. It is about building sustainable communities.

"There will be some tough choices to be made and we fully appreciate the stress and tension people have been going through.

"But we want people to work with us as much as we will be working with them."

At the meeting, Sally Rothwell, from Trinity Action Group, said more houses should be revamped rather than bulldozed.

She added: "The only answer seems to be to demolish them but there should be other ways.

"We welcome the fact that there is money coming into the area but we want to see it spent wisely. We have had houses due for demolition under SRB6 but they are still empty and boarded up, which has led to vandalism, fly-tipping and arson."

She also urged the council to ensure that consultation with residents continued.

Daneshouse with Stoneyholme ward councillor Mozaquir Ali said £15million was not enough to make a significant difference in Burnley. He also urged the executive not to bulldoze houses in Abel Street.

He said: "The two blocks in Abel Street are mostly owner-occupied and are well looked after - these people don't want to go."