New Home Bargains shop on its way to Lancashire - here's where
A new Home Bargains store is on the way to Lancashire - as planners clear the way for the redevelopment of an historic mill site.
Blackburn with Darwen Council has decided there is no need for an Environmental Impact Assessment for the building of retail (either food or food/non-food) units at Orchard Mill in Duckworth Street, Darwen, the former Perspex plant.
The applicant for an EIA screening opinion is TJ Morris Limited, which trades as Home Bargains.
The industrial buildings on the 6.7-acre site are currently being demolished. A planning application for the new 6,000 square metre store with 364 car parking spaces proposed to replace the buildings can now be submitted to the authority.
Perspex International vacated the Orchard Mill complex as part of its relocation for the centralisation of its manufacturing operations at its Chapels Park hub in Darwen. The firm’s move is based around the creation of a new £40 million Polymerisation Hall and Energy Centre at the main site off Goose House Lane – the first stage of a five-year job-creating investment programme in the town.
The site had been used for the manufacture of Perspex – a clear acrylic sheet – for more than 80 years.
A planning officer’s report ruling that an EIA opinion is not required before the submission of a planning application says: “The application site is a large former industrial facility that is located within Darwen town centre and the Livesey Fold secondary employment area.
“A large commercial building is currently in the process of being demolished. Commercial land uses surround three sides with residential land uses positioned to the west.
“An opinion on EIA screening is requested to determine whether or not redevelopment of the site for a flexible commercial use likely to comprise retail (either food or food/non-food) units requires an EIA. Two commercial retail units providing up to 6,000 sqm of floorspace are proposed together with a car parking area providing approximately 364 car parking spaces. A number of wider works would also be implemented.”