FYLDE residents can have their say on a £2m transformation of St Annes town centre when plans go on public exhibition from Thursday (November 11).

The Town Centre Partnership is holding a 10-day display in vacant offices next to Tiggis restaurant in Wood Street.

The partnership of councillors, businesses and community organisations is launching the project aimed at revitalising the town centre with trees, plants and shrubs, seating, dome-covered shelters, decorative lamp-posts, artworks and dramatic new windbreaks in the shape of sand yacht sails at the seaward end of the Square.

Next February the plans will start to leap off the drawing board into reality, when work starts on the first quadrant of the Square between Clifton Drive North and Garden Street.

Fylde chief development control officer Paul Drinnan said: "The exhibition will give the public the chance to look at the ideas and make comments.

"There'll be a model and artists' perspectives of how we'd like to see individual streets, including the Square, Garden Street, Orchard Road, Park Road, Wood Street and parts of St Andrew's Road South and Clifton Drive. "We have already incorporated a lot of the public's ideas from a previous exhibition. We'll also be able to give information to businesses about financial help which may be available to improve their frontages, and we'd be happy to give special presentations to schools or other groups."

The exhibition is open from 10am to 5pm until November 21, plus some evenings.

The partnership is seeking sponsorship from businesses to help fund artworks - British Aerospace has already given help with the design of the windsails and town centre stores have paid for the model to be built.

St Annes Chamber of Trade chairman Andrew Brotherton said: "This should put St Annes on the map again. I'm more than happy with the scheme and I just wish it could start tomorrow.

"If it makes St Annes more attractive it should draw in more people and have spin-offs for everybody."

The scheme will be funded mainly by Fylde and Lancashire County Councils, English Heritage and other grant-giving organisations.

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