Historic Lancashire college building set to be used for Asian weddings and banquets

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Over the years, it’s seen generations of youngsters come through it’s doors - and now there’s plans for a new chapter.

Inara Events Ltd has lodged an application to use the assembly hall of the former St Mary’s College in Shear Brow, Blackburn, for weddings and banqueting. It comes after the council served a Temporary Stop Notice on the owners of the site, the Issa Foundation, and the leaseholders of the site, Inara Events Ltd in August, following complaints from local residents about its unauthorised use for functions and celebration events.

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The Foundation and Inara Events Ltd could be prosecuted if they fail to comply with the Temporary Stop Notice and were told they must secure planning permission for the change of use.

St Mary's College, BlackburnSt Mary's College, Blackburn
St Mary's College, Blackburn | google

In a statement to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, the applicant says: “There is a demand for meeting spaces, wedding venues and function halls, particularly amongst the town’s southeast Asian demographic. Recent figures have singled out Blackburn as effectively the ‘youngest’ town in Europe; almost one in four residents of the borough are under the age of 15 according to a report by Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Union. It is within this context of enhancing existing community facilities catering for the town’s expanding population that this application ought to be considered.”

It adds: “There is much demand for the type of development within the town and the proposal is considered to put the vacant site to effective use. The proposal creates jobs for local people as well as contributes to sustainable economic growth and has positive supply chain effects.”

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St Mary's College was a college from 1925 to 2022, and became the country’s smallest sixth form college. It was established in 1925 by the Marist Fathers as a modern college for students aged 16 to 18 but closed closed on August 1 2022 as it was unable to meet the financial challenges and was in £8m debt.

The St Mary’s College site is supported by around 152 parking spaces, including around nine bays to a mobility impaired standard. The proposed function rooms would cater for private events such as wedding receptions, birthdays, music events and conferences. The proposed function rooms will be available for hire mainly on Thursday and Friday evenings and on weekends.

The applicant states: “The proposed use would be well contained within the site (in what was formerly the assembly hall) which does not directly abut residential properties. It is considered to be an appropriate distance away from residential properties as to not result in harm.”

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