Pendle ramps up Nelson projects
The council will appoint a pair of firms for the renovation of Trafalgar House, and will tee up the sale of Pendle Innovation Centre pending executive sign-off next week.
Pendle’s executive meets on Thursday 27 August with several items of interest.
One concerns the future of the 1890s-built Trafalgar House site.
A procurement process has now been concluded, and approval is sought to appoint Fox Brothers (Leyland) to carry out the partial demolition of the municipal building, and also to appoint Radcliffe Construction to complete the renovation of the retained front portion of the asset.
Penbrook, the joint venture between Pendle Council and developer Brookhouse, will be managing agent for the local authority.
As set out in the meeting report, the building is in poor condition and will require specialist retention to prevent the collapse of some parts, and further skills to reuse and reinstate salvaged heritage materials. The location of the building is highly constrained with other heritage assets in close proximity.
Pendle bought the asset in 2020, using accelerated Town Deal funding.
Also on the agenda is the sale of Pendle Innovation Centre, which was discussed at the Nelson, Brierfield and Reedley area committee on 3 August.
The Innovation Centre is a 10,344 sq ft former Kwik-Save supermarket that the council acquired in 2003, with parking at the front.
The centre was leased to Trust4Business from 2007 to 2021, with space sublet to SMEs, although numbers dwindled to the point the arrangement was unviable. Between February 2022 and 2025, it was leased to a local medical research and development company.#
Since the last lease surrender, the property has been marketed on behalf of the council by Trevor Dawson and Co, but only two tenancy offers have come forward, both offering rent at below market value and for uses requiring reconfiguration of the building.
A sale however might be on the horizon. A “serious offer of interest” has recently been received from a nearby building owner, while another possible buyer has emerged through Tre or Dawson.
The area committee members thus recommended to agree a disposal and recommend that executive declares the property surplus to requirements.
