Accrington courts set for reinvention
Applicant Demicon wants to convert and extend the former law courts and police station into offices, a café and 25 apartments.
Hyndburn Council’s planning committee will consider the application at its meeting on 10 July, with approval recommended. The project also requires a listed building consent.
Bruce & Bruce, project architect, leads the professional team. In the original documents submitted, Steven Abbott Associates provided the planning statement. B&B’s design & access statement describes the proposal as residential-led, with supporting uses.
The application site takes up the former magistrates’ courts and police station complex on Manchester Road, Accrington.
The site is also bound by the yard of the former fire station to the south-east – also a listed building that has itself been converted and updated – Grange Lane to the south-west, and Spring Gardens to the north-west.
Sitting in what is now the Christ Church conservation area, the complex was built in 1933 to classicist revivalist designs by Sir Percy Thomas, and is part one- and part two-storey. The court hall fronts Manchester Road and is dominated by a monumental central porch, while the police station fronts Spring Gardens.
The building has been vacant since 2016 and is described by planning officers as in poor condition, with boarded-up and broken windows.
Officers said: “The former civic complex is an important landmark on the Manchester Road gateway into Accrington town centre.”
Currently amounting to around 30,00 sq ft, the extension would take the overall mass to around 34,000 sq ft.
Proposed works would involve the internal and external alteration and extension of the building, with the existing structure housing the offices, café, and 20 apartments.
A rooftop extension would be constructed providing five additional apartments, which would be clad in anthracite standing seam coated steel.
According to the application form submitted, there would be seven one-bed homes, and 18 two-beds.
The works would include demolition of a single-storey building to the north-west of the inner courtyard, construction of a two-storey access corridor along the south-west and north-west walls of the courtyard, and a lift shaft to the southern corner. The existing stairwells would be extended through the roof to provide access to the rooftop apartments.
Although various issues are raised by consultees regarding the work to a heritage asset, none are significant enough to warrant an objection.
Demicon’s proposals can be viewed on the Hyndburn planning portal with the reference 11/23/0364.
