Council prepares ground for civic quarter revamp
Demolition of outbuildings at Darwen’s Library Theatre go to committee this week tipped for approval, as the local authority looks to put reallocated Town Deal cash to work.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s planning & highways committee will consider the proposals for the grade two-listed School Street arts centre at its meeting on Thursday 20 February.
The council which is the applicant and landowner, has applied to demolish a single-storey detached outbuilding and a small brick outrigger attached to the venue. A fire escape staircase will also be replaced.
Heritage specialist Buttress is working with BwD on the project on what it describes in the design & access statement as one of 20 Carnegie libraries remaining in the UK, built in 1908 to designs by Raymond Harrison.
Clearance of these rarely used structures will allow site investigations as improved connectivity is sought by the council and its team. “removing a barrier to potential future works to enhance the building’s relationship with the town” as Buttress outlined.
The demolitions, followed by a remodelling of the space left behind, form a part of the £6.8m programme to improve the Darwen Market & Civic Quarter area.
This is now a priority project as BwD looks to complete on delivering its £25m Town Deal programme, a central government funding slug to which it has added its own contribution of £12.5m.
A meeting of the local authority’s executive board last week heard a formal project adjustment request from the Town Deal Board, looking to reallocate resources to what it describes as “the largest and most complex Town Deal project”.
As outlined in that report, the project includes the redevelopment of the Market Hall, and replacement of the market car park, linked to the upgraded area around the library and theatre complex, with works to improve connected public realm and key gateways part of the proposal.
Detailed designs and planning are underway with surveys, market analysis and feasibility work to provide additional assurance on underground conditions and the future operating model.
The report said, “to this end, significant value engineering is underway with the aim of delivering the transformational centrepiece of the Darwen Town Investment Plan”.
Soft market testing with the council’s contractor framework is helping to inform the procurement strategy, phasing and logistical plans for the Darwen Market and Civic Quarter Project, with a further report due in summer setting out a detailed delivery plan for the Darwen Market & Civic Quarter development.
What was signed off last week was the reallocation of funds from a golf academy (part of an otherwise-delivered sports village), and for town centre living. This frees up £2.5m from the Town Deal, to be added to by £4m from BwD’s capital programme.
Darwen’s Town Deal as a whole has been up and running since 2020, and has funded the refurbishment of Darwen Tower, and the three other parts of the sports village project, covering football and cricket clubs along with a skate park.
The programme has also supported the redevelopment of Balle Mill for Brookhouse Aerospace, and is backing Perspex’s £40m ‘factory of the future’.
Central government has now confirmed a one-year extension on Town Deal delivery timescales, from March 2026 to March 2027.
