Massive new vision for Chorley Magistrates' Court - and it could be yours as iconic building goes on market

Investors have the chance to purchase the former Chorley Magistrates’ Court in St Thomas’ Road, which has been closed since 2019.

Plans to demolish the building and build a an 11-storey apartment building on the site featuring 52 flats, three ground floor retail units and a roof terrace were passed last year. Of the 52 apartments, there would be 28 x 1 bedroom apartments, 22 x 2 bedroom apartments and 2 x 3-bedroom apartments. Each apartment will have its own balcony and there will be a communal open roof terrace

Now the Landwood Group are offering the building on behalf of a private client for £800,000 and call it an “excellent town centre development opportunity”.

The court, which is sandwiched between Chorley Town Hall and Chorley Police Station, was purpose-built in 1966 and closed in 2019 as part of cost-cutting measures by the Ministry of Justice which saw 86 courts closed by the government that it deems to be “under-used” or “simply unsuitable for the services we need to provide”. During 2016/17, the court sat for a total of 1,512 hours out of a possible 3,810 available hours.

The building was offered for sale the same year for an undisclosed price, with Chorley Council knocked back from buying it for public use.

Concerns

Last September the council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead to the modern, 11-storey development - in spite of mixed views about whether its 42-metre height made it too tall for its surroundings.

A majority ultimately backed the blueprint - with one councillor, Russ Green, claiming that it would mark Chorley out as “a vibrant, modern and exciting town that’s willing to do something new”.