THE new owners of a ‘dismal development’ in Blackburn have been given three months to clean up the site before the council takes enforcement action.

The borough’s planning committee has given the Lancashire Mortgage Corporation retrospective planning permission for eight homes on land next to Eagle Street in Intack.

The councillors imposed strict conditions on the permission, ordering major drainage, landscaping and tidying improvements to take place within three months.

Chairman Jim Smith said that if the work was not completed within the time limit, enforcement action would be taken and if necessary the planning permission would be revoked making the properties legally unsaleable.

The Blackburn with Darwen council committee was told that after a previous owner was given planning permission in June 2005, construction work began in breach of many conditions imposed on the development between Accrington Road and Fecitt Brow.

After a succession of owners, the last one went into receivership and the current owners acquired the ‘mothballed development’ and realised because of the breaches of the original conditions, a retrospective permission was needed to keep the eight homes that had been built on the site.

Councillors were told by officials: “The site is in a very untidy state and there have been concerns regarding the access/layout, contaminated land, fly-tipping, drainage, un-suitable boundaries, anti-social behaviour and landscaping.”

Six neighbours objected to the application, with Harriet Hancock of Fecitt Brow complaining of, ‘noise, disturbance, fly-tipping, drainage, site safety and security, lots of child trespass’.

Committee member Phil Riley said: “This is a dismal development, particularly in its current state. What assurances have we got the owners will comply with the conditions we impose this time?”

Council development manager Gavin Prescott said the new owners had indicated that they would comply in full within the three month period.

No-one from the Lancashire Mortgage Corporation was available to comment.