Bumper agenda in store for Burnley
More than 600,000 sq ft of logistics space across plans from Eshton and Issa vehicle Monte Blackburn are joined by a Barratt housing scheme on the council’s next planning agenda.
Burnley’s development control committee meets on 9 June to consider the schemes. All are recommended for approval in some way.
Monte Blackburn – northern plot, Burnley Bridge Business Park
The reserved matters proposals submitted by Monte Blackburn, the property business headed by the Issa brothers, are for the northern part of the Burnley Bridge site, which has an outline consent dating back to 2016. This section of the site had earlier been earmarked for housing.
Monte proposes three buildings, comprising a combined 106,771 sq ft. Access will be from the estate road (as consented) leading to Junction 9 of the M65, with a bus link and a cycle/footpath linking the site to Cambridge Drive in the north-west.
The site was acquired in 2021. Credit: planning documents
According to the plans set out, the largest building’s industrial space will be around 51,000 sq ft, the second building’s around 35,000 sq ft and the third 13,500 sq ft. The two larger buildings would have roughly 3,700 sq ft and 1,700 sq ft of office space.
Campbell Driver Partnership is the architect, while Freeths is advising on legal matters.
Monte acquired the nine-acre plot from Eshton in autumn 2021. The Leeds-based investor has delivered the neighbouring parts of the Burnley Bridge scheme, which has been built out on a former magnesium works.
The new application reflects an update on a reserved matters bid submitted in September 2020 and subsequently withdrawn.
Eshton – Burnley Bridge South
Also plugging into the logistics hotspot of Junction 9 could be Eshton’s next scheme. The developer has put forward outline plans for a 33-acre site allocated for employment, where it intends to deliver 538,000 sq ft of development.
The proposed site, off Accrington Road, bounds the western edge of the Network 65 business park, where buildings occupied by Glen Dimplex are located.
Thirty letters of objection were received when the masterplan was originally floated, with a further nine following re-consultation.
If approval is granted, the scheme would necessitate the rerouting of Footpath 12, which currently goes through the site. The Ramblers Society and Lancashire County Council have indicated they are happy with the suggested new route.
Planning officers recommend that authority to approve is delegated to the head of housing and development control, subject ot a Section 106 agreement outlining public transport and footpath improvements.
Kilmartin Plowman & Partners is the planning consultant and KPP the architect. Trevor Dawson and Avison Young are joint agents for the scheme, which was launched in August 2020.
Barratt Homes – land south of Rossendale Road
Another application with a recommendation that approval be delegated is Barratt’s plan for 87 homes with a new access from Rossendale Road.
The application was deferred at April’s committee, with a request for further clarification on highway issues.
At around 2km from Burnley town centre, the site, currently grazing fields, lies close to the edge of the urban area. The plans have been scaled down from an initial 101 homes, taking into account objections, planning policy and a drive to improve the quality of the scheme, officers said.
Around a third of the houses will be three-bedroom, while 22% of homes will be classed as affordable.
John Francis Planning is working with Barratt.
The new access road for the scheme will also be used by a development subject to a further application for 122 houses, from Seddon Homes. This is still awaiting a decision.
