JUNCTION 5 STRATEGIC EMPLOYMENT SITE
Welcome to the online public consultation for the development of the Junction 5 Strategic Employment site.
The emerging Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Local Plan is expected to be formally adopted in January 2024. Its objective is to achieve balanced growth, which is socially and economically inclusive as well as environmentally sustainable.
There is strong market requirement for employment land in the Borough and surrounding area, which meets modern industrial and distribution business needs; is large enough to support existing businesses; and provides access from the motorway.
The emerging plan allocates a range of employment and mixed-use sites to deliver at least 46.4ha of new employment land and 198,000 sqm of new employment floorspace to support significant employment growth over the plan period.
The need for a strategic employment site in the Borough and the site’s location, with immediate accessibility to the motorway network, make it an outstanding opportunity to meet the longer-term employment needs of the Borough and surrounding areas.
Accordingly, the Junction 5 Strategic Employment site is proposed for allocation in the emerging Local Plan, generating up to 71,952m2 of employment floorspace.
MASTERPLAN
The emerging Local Plan requires the allocation site to be brought forward in line with a masterplan and infrastructure delivery strategy. This is to ensure that development is planned comprehensively, by establishing the design parameters and principles for the development for each of the two parcels. Once produced, the Masterplan will then help inform subsequent planning applications.
Whilst the allocation covers two parcels of land, this masterplan and associated planning applications will only relate to the larger southern parcel of land (A).
The site extends 19.6ha and comprises undulating fields with an existing farmhouse and associated outbuildings. Silage crop is currently grown on the site.
Various initial meetings and discussions have been held with Council departments, to establish their requirements and priorities.
An experienced team of consultants have been appointed to assess the site and identify any constraints and opportunities, as demonstrated on the constraints and opportunities plan (figure 1).
The development of the masterplan area will be phased over several years. There is a requirement for certain infrastructure, including highway improvements, to be delivered in a timely and effective manner to mitigate the impacts of the development.
Appropriate contributions, secured by way of section 106 agreements at the relevant planning application stages, will be agreed with the Council to deliver the on and off-site infrastructure necessary to serve the development.
FIGURE 1
PLANNING APPLICATION
In accordance with the agreed principles of the masterplan and infrastructure delivery strategy, an outline planning application will be submitted to the Council for employment development.
The outline proposal will establish the amount of development being proposed on the site and will have all matters reserved apart from access. A suite of assessments and surveys will support the planning application.
The proposal amount of development sought will be circa. 55,000 sqm of gross floorspace for the following employment uses:
Class B2 – General Industry
Class B8 – Storage and distribution
An illustrative concept plan of the proposed development is shown in figure 2.
Subject to completion of all appropriate technical assessments, we are aiming to submit the outline planning application prior to the end of 2023.
FIGURE 2
OPPORTUNITIES
Monte Blackburn Ltd (MBL) are a local property development company, with a track record of delivering high-quality employment development. A notable local project is Frontier Park, located near Whitebirk Roundabout / A6119 (Junction 6 M65). MBL purchased Frontier Park at the end of 2017.
Over the course of the following 4 years, MBL speculatively built around 1 million sq ft of new warehouse and industrial buildings, a new hotel, and a roadside services facility. The investment of over £100m, represented the largest ever single investment in the Borough. The result is a fully occupied modern employment zone, which has generated about 950 jobs for the manufacturing, distribution, and service industries.
The proposed employment development will deliver significant local economic and public benefits, including:
Delivery of a strategic employment site, central to Blackburn with Darwen’s economic growth ambitions
Creation of circa 650 new jobs with training and skills improvement.
Supply chain support for existing local businesses.
Increase in business rates revenue.
Job creation and trade for local businesses during the construction phase.
Contributions to off-site highway infrastructure mitigation.
Commitment to invest in improved public transport connections.
New links to and enhancements of the existing Public Rights of Way network.
On-site landscaping and planting.