7:20pm Sunday 7th March 2010
By Catherine Pye
A £30MILLION bid has been put forward to build a new retirement village near Darwen town centre.
It is hoped the money, from the Department of Health’s Funding for Social Care fund, will be approved by the end of the month to build the apartments and bungalows on Robin Bank.
The site would be next to a proposed riverside walk area on Shorey Bank.
Although plans are in their early stages, it is thought the village would offer a wide range of facilities for older people who require different services, including access to 24-hour help.
Most of the housing would be rented, or shared ownership, with a small num-ber available to buy.
David Foster, deputy leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “There is nothing public like this in the borough.
"A lot of people in Blackburn with Darwen are not well-off and to go into something like this privately would cost an awful lot of money.
“This retirement village would hopefully boost the town centre and the location, near a riverside walkway, and close to shops, would be ideal.”
Harry Catherall, an executive director at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said the Robin Bank project was the next site they wanted to develop.
This year the council is expected to pay out £500,000 to facilitate the plans, and a further £500,000 next year.
The site is near the old gas works, which has been looked at for development before, but found to pose what has been described as ‘serious contamination issues’.
Coun Foster said he believed the proposed site was just off this area.
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