A £1.5MILLION furniture store is to be built after planning bosses gave the green light for construction to begin, despite 52 letters of objection.

Oswaldtwistle Mills will expand with the creation of a new home and lifestyle store on land at Barrow Brook in the Ribble Valley.

But the decision to approve the plans has been described as ‘a huge risk’ by the leader of the council, who said building an out-of-town retail park could prove disastrous for town centres including Clitheroe and Whalley. 

Cllr Ken Hind said: “This is not a good thing for the Ribble Valley.

"If you look at neighbouring towns, such as Accrington, which has an out-of-town shopping centre, you could argue that the outside retail village has had devastating consequences on the town centre economy.

"This is not something we want to happen in the Ribble Valley.

“We welcome the investment from Oswaldtwistle Mills but would encourage them to speak to the council about an alternative location in one of our town centres and we would welcome any discussion.”

The proposal was given the go-ahead during a planning meeting where it was noted that 52 letters of objection had been lodged by locals. 

The retail unit, ‘Love Furniture Stores’, will sell a range of furniture and homeware with a focus on British and local suppliers.

There are plans to incorporate a coffee shop and tearoom at the site, which will sit alongside existing retailers such as McDonalds and KFC.

Many of the objections submitted outlined concerns about the impact the store will have on the vitality and viability of town centres, including the taking away of trade and footfall and that the store could set a ‘dangerous precedent’ for future out-of-town retail development.

However, Boyd Hargreaves, managing director of Oswaldtwistle Mills, insisted that it would only mean good things for the area.

He said: “Having achieved planning approval there will be a significant investment now put into Barrow Brook. We have estimated a project value of £1,500,000 to get the site up and running by spring 2019.

“The development will create circa 14 employment positions of which we will look to the local community to fill.

"In addition to our extensive furniture offer and catering offer we will be looking to talk to local furniture designer-makers to help complement our product mix. 

“Oswaldtwistle Mills’ main shopping village has a significant marketing budget with a regional reach. We aim to promote the Barrow Brook site on the back of our existing activity to help pull further people to the area.”

The Lancashire Telegraph was also told that Oswaldtwistle Mills had explored options to site the new store in Clitheroe, but due to the nature of the 'bulky goods' which are to be sold, suitable sites with adequate parking were not available in the town centre.

Retail planning consultant Heather Clapp said implementation of the proposal would not ‘set a precedent’ for other out-of town developments.

She said: “The proposal responds directly to the government’s aspirations to increase consumer choice and encourage sustainable economic development on appropriate sites. The scheme will also act to draw more people into Clitheroe.”