Redevelopment of Shackleton's Home & Garden Centre moves closer - here's what's coming

Bosses at Shackleton’s Home and Garden in Chatburn - which attracts most of its customers from Blackburn, Preston and Bradford postcode areas - have already secured permission to overhaul the site.

Now they’ve submitted detailed plans on how they’re going to do it - including construction management plans, site access, and water drainage plan - to Ribble Valley Borough Council.

What’s happening?

Planning permission has been granted for an extension to the retail building, associated car parking and landscaping. Customer access will remain off Clitheroe Road, but the entrance will be moved to the east approximately 11 metres. Service access is also proposed further up Worston Road, to allow for the building expansion.

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The approved plans feature a central ‘market street’ main entrance, allowing all sales areas of the building to be visible and accessible from a single point. To the lower portion of the building, the existing interior furniture showroom, will be maintained and expanded to now cover a split level.

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The kitchen furniture sales area will be relocated to the former ‘pavilion coffee house’. A new cafe will be housed over two levels in an ‘extension module’ to the left of the market street, which will also house the outdoor furniture showroom and sundries sales. The outer extension module then has intermediate and upper floors raised above the main entrance, featuring an indoor play area for children. Mobility lifts are included to aid movement and accessibility.

The plant area will remain at the rear of the site, and a new “more appealing and enticing” entrance with a ‘green buffer’ featuring seasonal planting introduced fronting Clitheroe Road.

Why do it?

According to the original application, the changes are deemed necessary by bosses “to continue to compete for the local demand and be the go-to destination store”. The document states: “Due to local challenges, the applicants have targeted a wider market through the online sector. This provides access to a larger consumer base whilst also creating the potential to attract a different audience to the destination store and the Ribble Valley itself.”

Shackleton’s has been open since 2000.