Blackburn with Darwen Council is set to buy an abandoned Blackburn site and move forward with plans for new affordable homes.
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The land at Scotland Bank Mill, once home to the Kickers factory, will be bought using Section 106 funding secured through new housing developments across the borough.
For years, council officers say they have been working to find a solution for the empty and derelict site, which has been blighted by noise, nuisance, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
The site is owned by a national company, but the council says rising construction costs and the challenges of the land have meant private development has not been considered financially viable.
The council now plans to buy the land and work with Together Housing to deliver new affordable homes. Details of the purchase will go before the council’s Executive Board next week.
Councillor Quesir Mahmood, the council’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Growth and Development, said the site has been “a blight on the community” and said residents had been frustrated by the lack of action, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
He said the council had “exhausted every possible option” and was now stepping in to buy it.
He added that, working with Together Housing, the empty and derelict site would be transformed with “quality, new, affordable homes”.
Together Housing already owns properties on Scotland Bank Terrace and in the surrounding area off Heys Lane, and the site has been identified as suitable for new two and three-bedroom homes.
The council says similar schemes are already progressing elsewhere in Blackburn with Darwen.
At Griffin, work is underway on the final phase of regeneration there, as part of a £20m investment in affordable homes in the area.
Work is also nearing completion on affordable homes at the Water’s Edge development off Haslingden Road, where key workers, including those working at Royal Blackburn Hospital, are being prioritised.
The council has also worked with Together Housing to deliver fully accessible bungalows on Borrowdale Avenue, and new homes are being delivered on the Holden Fold development in Darwen.
Councillor Mahmood said the council was “renowned for our partnership working” and said the success of these developments, especially on difficult sites, was a testament to that.
He said the council worked hard to give residents “the best possible chances in life” and that the schemes were about building strong communities as well as creating new homes.
Picture shows Councillor Quesir Mahmood (centre) with Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Julie Gunn, Deputy Leader of the Council, at the Griffin site.
