DEVELOPMENT has started to turn Burnley’s historic Weavers’ Triangle into a 24-hour hub of life and activity with the first new homes in the complex for 150 years.

The Lancashire Telegraph today reveals the first images of the preparatory work under way and how the new apartments will look.

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With councillors this week set to confirm the final £445,000 grant for the ground-breaking project, Burnley borough leader Cllr Mark Townsend hailed the development as the key to reviving the town centre as a round the clock urban hub.

He said: “This is about bringing life, people and activity to the Weavers’ Triangle, one of the first schemes to revive a Victorian industrial area 24 hours a day.

“It is the key to promoting urban living to Burnley town centre and giving it a round the clock economy stretching into the evening when it can seem a little dead.”

Community leaders have hailed the progress as a major step forward.

The 40-year-long campaign to save and revive the heritage area of former Victorian Cotton Mills attracted the attention of Prince Charles who hosted the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on a Diamond Jubilee visit to the refurbished complex in May 2012.

Work has started on the site of an ambitious new apartment complex on the former Clock Tower Mill site, off Sandygate, on behalf of Barnfield Construction, overlooking the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Demolition of parts of Finsley Gate Mill, and stabilisation of the remaining former Lambert Howarth building, is ongoing as part of plans by developers St Modwen to build 18 new townhouses there and 149 homes on the opposite canal bank.

And a £2million Heritage Lottery Fund backed initiative by the Canal and River Trust to regenerate nearby Mile Wharf, creating a rental cottage, restaurant, boat repair yard and moorings, is now partially complete.

People have not lived in the former cotton industry heartland for decades.

One of the most historic rows, Slater’s Terrace, dating back to 1850 and the subject of the 2012 visit by The Queen, has been converted from cottages into offices for social agency Spacious Place.

Councillors will this week confirm that £445,836 has been set aside for the project, in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), as £115,836 is set aside for this year and the remainder to be spent in future years.

Sixteen apartments, also overlooking the new Sandygate public square, will be offered to first-time buyers as starter homes, with a minimum 20 per cent discount on their market value, under the joint HCA scheme.

The agency previously delivered a £160,000-grant to the borough council in order to undertake clearance works on the canalside site.

Planning agent Campbell Driver said: “The canal occupies an elevated position, which causes it to dominate the town centre and this particular site has fantastic open views.”

The original Clock Tower Mill was built in 1840 but was substantially demolished in 2004 following an arson attack.

Cllr Roger Frost, an historian who represents Briercliffe for the Liberal Democrats, said: “It is good news that people are coming back to the Weaver Triangle to live.

“I want to see a real mix of commercial, office, leisure but I have doubts about the balance and the architecture.

“I would like to see more jobs in the mix and am not sure that the new buildings are appropriate to the heritage of the area.”

Cllr Gordon Birtwistle said: “This is great.

“We’ve been working on this for 40 years, one of the firsts such projects in the country.

“It will bring life back to the town centre and make sure the triangle is busy all day and night.

“Urban living is very important but personally I would like to see a cinema, restaurants and pubs there as well to complete the picture.”

Mike Damms, chief executive of East Lancashire’s Chamber of Commerce, said: “I am pleased to see this historic heritage site being brought back to life with not just businesses using it but people living there as well.

“This scheme is one of the reason for Burnley’s modern business and commercial success.”

Cllr Townsend said: “This has been 40 years in the making and is possibly the first scheme to refurbish and revive a historic industrial area like this in the country.

“It great that demolition, preparatory work and building is now under way.

“Bringing urban living back to the town centre is an important priority for the council.

“This is about turning a Victorian heritage asset in the borough into part of Burnley’s 21st Century future.”