£10m Marks and Spencer move from Blackburn town centre to Issa Brother's Frontier Park back on table
Proposals to replace Blackburn town centre’s Marks and Spencer store with a £10.1m M&S Food Hall on the Issa brothers’ Frontier Park are back on the table - after hitting a major High Court hitch in September.
The legal block meant that the planning process for the retailer’s new outlet off the M65 had to be rerun from the beginning. Now Monte Blackburn, the property arm of Mohsin and Zuber Issa’s business empire which owns Frontier Park just across the border between Blackburn and Rishton, has started the new assessment of the scheme.
But whatever happens with the planning process, Marks and Spencer have made it clear they will be leaving Blackburn town centre by September 2027.
The background
In April, Hyndburn Council planning committee granted planning permission for the outlet just off the M65’s Junction 6 after overturning an officer’s recommendation to reject it. The approval was given despite a last-ditch attempt by Blackburn with Darwen Council to offer the location on the cleared Thwaites Brewery site originally earmarked for a new Morrisons supermarket as an alternative. Following the approval by the committee, Tesco Stores launched a Judicial Review of the decision which Hyndburn Council opted not to contest.
The result was that the High Court quashed the planning permission granted by the councillors, meaning the committee was required to re-determine the application after a new officer’s report taking into account the technical and procedural grounds for the judgement. Now Monte and Marks and Spencer have submitted new supporting statements to Hyndburn Council addressing the grounds for the High Court decision in September and urging approval for the proposal.
Marks and Spencer says it will not renew the lease for its existing all-purpose store in Blackburn town centre’s King William Street which employs 75 staff when it expires in September 2027.
The Monte Blackburn statement says: “This statement has comprehensively addressed the concerns raised in the Committee Report and the High Court decision regarding the refusal of planning permission for the proposed food retail store at Frontier Park. It has presented compelling evidence to demonstrate why this application warrants approval, focusing on the significant economic, social, and environmental benefits that outweigh any perceived harm. The development will generate significant employment opportunities, both directly and indirectly.
“The applicant has submitted a robust sequential test and demonstrated that no suitable alternative sites exist within the primary retail area. While acknowledging previous objections on this basis, it is hoped that the updated information and robust analysis presented will encourage a re-evaluation of those positions. Moreover, the strong interest from M&S in occupying the unit as a food hall further exemplifies these advantages. M&S’s relocation from their existing Blackburn town centre store will not only retain jobs but also contribute to the vitality of Frontier Park by providing a much-needed service to residents, employees, and visitors.
“This proposal represents a valuable opportunity to regenerate an underutilised site within Frontier Park, delivering a range of economic, social, and environmental benefits that align with planning policy objectives.”
Return to Hyndburn
The Marks and Spencer statement says: “The existing M&S store in King William Street, Blackburn, is from another era opening in 1934 and is no longer representative of how people want to shop today or is in any way representative of the M&S property and trading strategy to renew the M&S in the UK and make it fit for the future. Should planning permission not be granted for the relocation food hall at Frontier Park the existing store would close in any event given it no longer performs as required. If the project does go ahead it will see the return of the brand to Hyndburn for the first time since it closed its Accrington town centre store in March 2016.”
Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Coun Phil Riley has previously said: ‘We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’d love to keep M&S here in Blackburn town centre’ declined to comment on the reviving of the planning process for the Frontier Park food hall.