AN ideas guru of "international standing" is to be brought to Nelson provide a creative vision for the town's future.

The move was announced as a timetable for regeneration in Nelson was unveiled amid hopes the town could become a flagship for East Lancashire.

Consultants Nathaniel Litchfield and Partners were appointed last week to help create a £300,000 Area Development Framework which will bring together specific plans to improve the town.

Heritage bodies and Pendle Council have also agreed that a "person of international standing" will be appointed independently, to bring creative vision and flair to the process.

Their role could be inspired by the work of Urban Splash chairman Tom Bloxham, who used creative ideas to regenerate old homes and buildings in the Manchester area.

He was responsible for a £30million project in Salford which turned terraced houses upside down by creating living spaces and kitchens upstairs.

Pendle Council leader Alan Davies has said the person contracted to bring ideas to Nelson will be "a specialist who is prepared to have a different vision of the area" and he hopes their plans could later be used to benefit other areas in East Lancashire.

He added: "We don't know who the person will be at this stage, but we hope they will have creative ideas for Nelson.

"Creative ways of thinking were used in East Manchester and led to the value of houses increasing dramatically.

"No-one has yet been appointed to the role. There is a completely blank piece of paper at the moment and we are looking forward to working with residents and other bodies to draw up the plans."

Residents' views on regeneration will be canvassed through various means, including workshop-style exercises, questionnaires and interviews.

Early emphasis for this work will be placed on the Nelson West area, where the first phase of council plans to demolish 130 homes were thrown out by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in September.

Special events will be held in that area between March and May to allow residents to express their ideas for the future.

The overall plans will be fed into the Elevate East Lancashire programme, which will allocate millions of pounds of Government cash throughout the region.

Sylvia Wilson, secretary of the Whitefield Residents' Conservation Action Group, which fought to save houses from demolition, said: "We will be watching what goes on with great interest.

"We feel that Nelson is becoming something of a pilot since the public inquiries and it's important we all work together to get it right first time.

"The residents here just want an input into what goes on in their environment."