Blackburn advances £45m skills campus
Members have given the thumbs-up for officers to proceed with professional team appointments, finalising an anchor tenant lease and allocating government and combined county authority funding.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive board meet on Thursday 10 April to consider a report on the progress of the town centre skills campus, a banner project being delivered in partnership with Maple Grove Developments.
The skills & education facility is a focal part of the borough’s local plan and the council’s intention to develop a business innovation district in Blackburn town centre. It is also a key project in the context of the newly formed Combined County Authority (CCA).
The first phase – Building One and assorted works – will cost £45m, of which the council is paying £23m. As put forward in last year’s planning application, the building weighed in at 93,000 sq ft.
BwD is now aiming for a start on site in 2026, with completion in late 2028, and occupation by students from 2029.
Recommendations made were that the board should note the acceptance of £20m in government funding for the campus, along with the receipt of £6m from the CCA towards two projects – £4m towards the refurbishment of St John’s for a digital and cyber hub and £2m towards the skills campus.
The anchor tenant is to be the University of Lancashire, rebranding from the University of Central Lancashire, which will occupy Building One.
Reworked plans will be submitted, with a reduced height that reflects the amended requirements of the university and reduce capital costs.
Appointing a main contractor will go before a future meeting of the executive, but now confirmed are Turner & Townsend and BDP for project and cost management with multi-discipline design services, and Casey Construction as civil engineering contractor for highway and remediation works.
Casey won a tender against Eric Wright Civil Engineering and I&H Brown for the £830,000 contract.
United Utilities will be appointed to design and construct sewer diversions to enable the delivery of Building One, while Blake Morgan is advising on legals.
Maple Grove was granted a non-exclusive land option in November by the executive to take forward a potential Building Two. Officers said in their update that discussions with various parties to determine levels of interest are ongoing. The size of Building Two has been put at 48,000 sq ft.
Building One’s funding from central government comes from the Levelling Up Fund to support phase one of the business innovation district, of which phase one was named as the skills campus. The innovation district sits within a £250m investment framework for the town centre.
At present, guidance from the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government is that all LUF cash must be spent by March 2026.
The skills campus plans as revealed last summer showed a development of four and five storeys in heights across its two buildings on a brownfield plot bordered by Brown Street, Penny Street, St John’s Court, and Ainsworth Street, where Thwaites Brewery once stood.
