Church animal skin firm's plans fall through (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Church animal skin firm's plans fall through

6:00pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News By Emma Cruces, Reporter

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to open an animal hides firm in a neighbourhood has fallen through.

Plans to sell the Church Works site in Church to hides and skin merchants Harwood Hides caused uproar among local residents who feared hygiene problems would result from the business.

In spite of getting planning permission from Hyndburn Council, the Lancashire Telegraph understands that conditions relating to the planning permission have seen the plan fall through. An exchange of contracts with current site owners did not go ahead after Hyndburn Council imposed tough conditions relating to strict regulation of the business.

Residents were said to be ‘delighted’ after the unpopular plan, close to local homes, collapsed at the last minute. Church resident Gary Britland said: “The residents are delighted. It was good to see a community come together and put their views forward.

“The type of business was not the type to be put into a residential area and caused most upset. But now at last we have the right outcome.”However the site owner, who had been co-ordinating the sale to Harwood Hides, said they had sympathy with a business trying to expand.

Owner Richard Nelson said: “We are no longer proceeding with Harwood Hides in terms of the sale for Church Works.

“There is another buyer we are proceeding with who is interested in using the site for a warehousing facility. That business complies with the current planning rules and regulations for the site.

“I sympathise with Harwood Hides who had spent a lot of money going through the legal process. I would sypmathise with any business which was trying to expand and has met with so many hurdles.”

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