I READ with interest two articles in your paper last week which expressed the concern that East Lancashire is going to be "left out" of the government's multi-million pound housing market renewal pathfinder project.

Whilst my ability to foretell the future is no better than the next person's, I think I can reassure your readers about where the East Lancashire project stands and what we can reasonably expect.

Far from being left out, East Lancashire has been included in one of the biggest, longest lasting and farthest reaching of all Government renewal projects.

We are one of only nine areas in the country to be named as pathfinders.

This project is going to radically change the very market for houses in our towns, with benefits that will be felt by people across Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale.

We submitted our prospectus in December as planned, outlining our strategic plan for the next 15 years, and we expect to be the next to receive our award at the end of March.

What we are asking for is a substantial bite out of the £500 million earmarked for all nine pathfinders for the next two years.

However, we know the money is not going to be divided equally.

Instead, Government will judge each pathfinder on its merits.

We believe that East Lancashire's case is a very strong one and that our strategy can be delivered.

Although we cannot predict what our award will be, there are signs which encourage us to be confident.

For example, all the pathfinders were granted £2.66 million to get the project started.

East Lancashire then bid for, and won, an additional £4 million.

This £6.6 million has supported dozens of projects, from neighbourhood wardens to alley-gating schemes, from construction skills training to renovations for hundreds of homes.

This is only the beginning.

Achieving a healthy, dynamic housing market in some of the most deprived areas of East Lancashire will not happen overnight and along the way, there are going to be challenges for all involved.

We are confident that the local authorities, the strategic partnership, the regional development agency and all partners in the public and private sector will work together to meet those challenges.

Then East Lancashire's towns truly will become places where people from all walks of life choose to live.

MAX STEINBERG, Chief Executive, Elevate - East Lancashire