Blackburn approves housing and £25m college refurb
Vistry has been granted consent to build 165 homes on land south of Whalley Old Road, while plans to revamp the grade two-listed Victoria Building at the town’s college have also been given the go-ahead.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s planning committee meeting approved the plans at its monthly meeting last Thursday.
Whalley Old Road
Blackburn with Darwen Council sold the 20-acre site to Vistry Partnerships earlier this year and has now approved plans for its redevelopment into 165 homes.
The scheme will feature a mix of two-, three-, four-, and five-bedroom houses. 132 homes will be sold under Vistry’s Bovis Homes brand. The remaining 33 will be available for shared ownership.
A total of 7.7 acres of the site is earmarked as public open space.
Woodcroft Design advised Vistry on its proposals.
To learn more about this project search for reference number 10/22/0722 on BwD’s planning portal.
Blackburn College revamp
The Department for Education has been granted planning consent to significantly remodel and refurbish the Victoria Building, described as the “front door” of the college campus.
The Victoria Building was constructed in 1888 as the main building housing Blackburn’s technical college and has remained in teaching use in the years since.
The DfE, with its main contractor Bam Construction, will invest a £25m allocation from the government’s Further Education Capital Transfer Fund to bring the building up to modern standards.
Most of the proposed works fall under the category of repairs and redecoration, but there would also be two new lecture theatres created from within the fabric of the building, social spaces, and a range of classroom improvements.
The refurbishment work is expected to take 22 months, during which time a temporary classroom would be installed in the college car park next to the leisure centre, under a separate application from the college.
RPS Group advised the DfE and Bam.
To learn more about this project search for reference number 10/22/0912 on BwD’s planning portal.
