Telegraph Reporter Industry park plan unveiled DETAILS of controversial plans to extend Lomeshaye Industrial Estate, Nelson, have gone on display at the town hall.

A major public consultation on the proposed extension started on Monday and will continue until November 3.

A survey of 200 local firms by Pendle Council found that 35 firms had plans to expand off their current sites in the next five years.

There is concern they could be forced to move out of Pendle, taking hundreds of jobs with them, unless enough industrial land is found within the borough.

The proposed 16-hectare Lomeshaye extension would go more than half way towards meeting the demand for an additional 29 hectares of industrial land for development between now and 2016.

Janet Bradbury, the council's development director, said: "The council needs to work with local employers wishing to expand in Pendle.

"If their needs cannot be met in Pendle they are likely to move, resulting in the loss of local people's jobs. This would damage Pendle's economy and adversely affect the regeneration of our area. We need to explore ways in which this could be avoided."

Opponents claim the extension, which would stretch towards the Barrowford-Padiham bypass, would destroy greenbelt land and create an eyesore on a prominent hillside.

If the extension gets the green light from councillors it will have to go to a public inquiry with the Environment Secretary having the final say. The seven-week consultation will include public meetings at Barrowford Civic Hall on September 21 and Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary School on September 26, both at 7pm. The exhibition will also be on display at the Pendle Forest Scout and Guide headquarters, Wheatley Lane, Fence, on Saturday between 10am and 1pm.

Views on the extension plans will be considered by a special meeting of the council's policy committee in November.