We make every penny count... building high quality housing is vital to the future success of our borough
Blackburn with Darwen Council has revealed it received more than £14m of funding to boost it services through payments from developers of major projects across the borough over the past five years.
The total is revealed in a report on infrastructure funding published on Friday outlining the sums collected through these Section 106 (S106) contributions secured through the planning system.
As of the end of March 2024, the council had secured £14.7million over five years towards affordable housing; education; transport and travel improvements; highways improvements; health; community facilities; open space provision and leisure.
In 2024/25 £2.5million was received from developments including the former Sappi Papermill site in Blackburn, Holden Fold in Darwen, and the Water’s Edge scheme near Royal Blackburn Hospital. During the same period, S106 funding supported improvements to Witton Park, Whitehall Park and the playground at Guide, with Feniscowles Sports Club also benefitting.
Highways works included the widening of Haslingden Road with new pedestrian crossings, upgrading the Moor Lane junction in Darwen, and contributing towards improvements along the Yew Tree Drive corridor. More than £600,000 was also spent during the year to provide new sites for affordable housing across the borough.
The Blackburn with Darwen Infrastructure Funding Statement 2024-25 reveals that: “As at March 2025, a net total of £8,707,945 was available to fund public open space, biodiversity net gain (BNG), education, highways, health and affordable housing projects in the borough. A total of £2,542,579 in S106 monies were received in the 2024/25 period.
A total of £1,976,609 S106 monies were spent in the 2024/25 period – £1,193,040 funding highway works in the borough, £610,020 on the provision of affordable housing in the borough, £131,868 spent on improving existing or creating new open spaces and £22,500 spent on pupil modelling work to identify the need for any additional school places across the borough.”
Future priorities for the money include contributions towards new school places where required, support for multi-million pound transport investment in South East Blackburn, and improved healthcare facilities.
Blackburn with Darwen growth boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood said: “These S106 contributions are essential in helping us deliver improvements right across the borough – improvements that otherwise simply wouldn’t be possible with the way councils are funded today.
“We make every penny count and securing £14.7million through these S106 contributions is a fantastic achievement. Securing this funding means we can deliver the upgrades that are needed to things like our parks, open spaces, roads, schools, healthcare facilities and more.
“Building high quality housing is also vital to the future success of our borough. We know it’s one of the best ways to improve the quality of life of our residents, and it helps us retain talented people in our borough.”