Park's £250k upgrade will revamp tracks and paths

One of Lancashire's largest parks is to get a £250,000 refurbishment, with more than 11 miles of its well-trodden tracks and pathways getting a revamp.

Often described as the "jewel in Burnley's crown", Towneley Park, which welcomes half a million visitors every year, extends over 440 acres (178 hectares) and hosts a leisure activities and events, alongside the historical Towneley Hall museum and art gallery.

The final plan for the work is still being designed but it should widen some paths and restore others that could pose accessibility issues.

Burnley Council's executive has decided to put the pathing improvements out to tender, after 470 residents called for change in a consultation.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said some people had called for new trails through the expansive park, with one resident writing: "Create more paths through the woodland, I do the walk every week and feel there is so much more ground to create more paths through it."

Others called for urgent repairs, saying: "Please re surface the paths. They are in a dreadful state."

These hundreds of responses in October, 2025, were used to support an application for funding from the FCC Community Action Fund, which resulted in a £100,000 grant.

A matching sum has also been secured from the UK Government's Pride In Place initiative to fund community projects, with the borough hoping to secure the remaining £50,000 from a third party.

The works should create more paths to open up new ways to experience the park, which has been at the heart of Burnley since it was purchased in 1902.

While seconding the agenda item at the Executive meeting to set the wheels in motion on the park's path improvements, Councillor Margaret Lishman said: "I would just like to say how delighted I am to see that we are doing this work.

"The park is such a well-used facility for everybody and upgrading for the disabled people who use it is an absolute must for us."

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