AMT Public

Todmorden is a town of just under 15,000 people in West Yorkshire. It achieved much national publicity in 2009 for its Incredible Edible project, a visionary initiative which aims to make the town self-sufficient in local food in ten years by re-skilling people in growing and cooking - from school through to apprenticeships, preserving and developing new food-related jobs, and reconnecting the town to its farmers through the regeneration of the local market (http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk ). Incredible Edible was winner of the Yorkshire and Humber Market Town Awards 2009.

But Incredible Edible is just one of many projects in this busy town. The AMT member is Todmorden Town Council (http://www.todmordencouncil.org.uk ), which has achieved recognition under the Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme. This is designed to provide benchmark minimum standards for parish and town councils and promote enhanced relationships between local councils, principal authorities and community and voluntary sector organisations.

Todmorden Pride (http://www.todmordenpride.org.uk ), established in January 1998, is the local community partnership which brings together a range of representatives drawn from all sectors of the community of Todmorden.

The objectives of the partnership are to forge a sustainable future for Todmorden as a community, exploiting its considerable architectural heritage and environmental advantages.  To date the Partnership has defined a forward strategy for Todmorden and assisted in the development of several areas of the town.

Todmorden is one of five towns in the Upper Calder Valley which is part of the UpperCalder Valley Renaissance initiative – the first project anywhere in the UK to tackle the challenging and complex job of transforming an entire valley (http://www.ucvr.org.uk).  This 14 mile section of the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire was earmarked by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, as an area ripe for regeneration on all levels.

Exciting plans for the redevelopment of Todmorden Town Centre are gathering pace. The Council, Yorkshire Forward and the Town Centre Renaissance Project Board have been working together to progress plans for the area. One step is the purchase of the former Rose Street Health Centre, which will be demolished and replaced with a high quality temporary landscaping scheme. This will ensure the town centre retains its aesthetic appeal for residents and visitors alike.

There are also plans for the creation of a new mixed use centre in the heart of the town, with retail units a café, and small business units as part of a regional initiative to identify a number of sites for the location of new business workspace facilities.

Totally Locally Todmorden is part of a Calderdale-wide campaign to raise awareness of the great local shops in the area and how shopping locally can support local jobs (http://www.totally-locally.co.uk ). Totally Locally is not about never shopping in a supermarket, online or in a city – but it is about taking a fresh look at what is available on the doorstep and investing in those businesses and the local town.

Todmorden is now officially a Fairtrade Town, an award given by the Fairtrade Foundation to towns across the UK who are helping to promote Fairtrade within their own communities. This award was presented to Todmorden in February 2010 and Todmorden Fairtrade Group wish to thank the Town Council, businesses, schools, churches, community and voluntary groups – everyone has helped to achieve this award and together we are making a real difference to real people!

Fairtrade Todmorden has its own website (http://www.fairtradetodmorden.btik.com ) with a local listings page where you can find where Fairtrade products are used and sold, check out events planned in the dates for your diary section and take a look at what the group have been doing in the campaign update section.

The website http://www.todmorden.org has many links to other websites about Todmorden, while  a history of the town and further links at at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todmorden