Monte Blackburn Ltd, a development company owned by EG Group’s Issa brothers, has finally been granted permission to break ground on a new £5m service station development at the end of the M65 in Colne, Lancashire.
The plans for the site off Whitewalls Drive in Colne had previously been rejected because they were ‘out of scale and character’ with the surrounding countryside and also because of the impact the development could have on local retailers. However, planning consent has now been granted with the project expected to begin early next year.
The 8.6 acre site will have a petrol station, convenience store, car wash and Starbucks drive-thru as well as two industrial units.
There will be 115 parking spaces on site in total, including five disabled spaces. Each unit will have its own dedicated parking area. There will be 54 parking spaces for the industrial units (39 for the larger unit and 14 for the smaller one), with one mobility space per unit. The drive thru coffee will have 32 parking spaces, of which two will have EV charging points and one will be disabled. Thirty spaces including two mobility spaces and eight dedicated EV points are proposed at the forecourt and car wash.
The development plans were last rejected in October when councillors overruled advice to approve them and Monte Blackburn then appealed to the government’s planning inspectorate.
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Alex Kenwright, development projects manager for the EG Group, said: “We were delighted the planning inspectorate overturned the refusal of our scheme at Colne.
“The original application was recommended for approval by the planning officer but overruled by councillors. This has delayed the investment and, more pertinently, local job creation by over 12 months.
“Notwithstanding this consideration and challenging economic environment, we intend to start working with stakeholders to ensure the scheme is a success and plan to begin construction in the spring of next year.
“We are presently developing the detailed design.
“There is already much interest in the small warehouses and we expect the scheme will be fully let upon completion.
“We have always felt the scheme offers the area much-needed facilities and this high-quality, well-landscaped scheme will help develop the local economy.
“In addition to the permanent 120 new full time jobs, the project will also create temporary construction jobs for Lancashire as we look to use our local framework supply chain to deliver this £5m scheme.”
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