Barnfield poised for Darwen appointment
Council sign-off is expected this week for the contractor to take on the Town Deal-backed Darwen Market and Civic Quarter project.
Initially, this would be a pre-construction services agreement, which sets out expectations on working with Blackburn with Darwen Council’s procured principal designer and design team to develop a scheme deliverable within the available public funding envelope of £20m.
BwD’s executive board meets on Thursday 9 January to discuss the appointment, which would advance the largest single project within the Darwen Town Deal.
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The main element is the redevelopment of Darwen Market Hall, followed by the replacement of the market car park. Also included are major upgrades of Darwen Library & Theatre.
Planning and listed building consents are now in place, with the market hall redevelopment going through the process in summer 2025 – John Puttick Associates designing a project that includes structural upgrades, a layout change to accommodate more F&B, and a new arcade linking to a parking provision reduced in size from 149 cars to 79.
Heritage-focused architect Buttress is among the team working on the Library Theatre’s redevelopment. Works will also improve connected public realm and key gateways as available funding allows.
Tender documents to appoint the main contractor were issued on 1 October, and as recorded in the papers issued ahead of Thursday’s meeting, “one tender was returned on 26 November 2025 from Barnfield Construction”. This submission was assessed against the local authority’s criteria and was deemed compliant.
Subject to approval, Barnfield would begin the PCSA period of 6-8 months immediately, meaning a start on site would be hoped for by autumn.
“One tender returned”, thought local authorities had to abide by CCT, therefore how can this be deemed to be the most cost effective solution?
Also, Darwen Town Centre can’t sustain a loss of 70 car parking spaces, this will again be detrimental to businesses in the area.
By PC99
@ January 07, 2026 at 9:00 am
By PC99
Within the article, it mentioned that the car park with be replaced.
By Anonymous
We are very pleased to be undertaking the MEP and sustainability services on both these projects .
By Graham Wilson
Darwen is a growing and attractive town with a really positive future, with big in new jobs housing and roads , good to see it’s important market and near by library and theatre which are the focus of the town centre are being updated and improved
By Geou
Whet a Council, we are building houses at a rate never seen for years , so more drivers in town and what do our fantastic Council do but reduce number of car parking spaces available. Counter productive to the enth degree.
By Kevin Atkinson