5:03pm Wednesday 1st September 2010
By Catherine Pye
DOZENS of protesters came to learn whether controversial plans for a rehab centre in their area would get the go-ahead.
But councillors decided to postpone their decision at the last minute.
Oswaldtwistle-based The Station Project wants to convert the former Woodlands care home, Holly Tree Close, Darwen, into a rehabilitation centre for mothers with drug and alcohol problems.
Her planning application was recommended for approval by officers from Blackburn with Darwen council ahead of the meeting.
Protesters packed into Blackburn Town Hall as Catherine Floyd, of The Station Project, made her case, telling councillors no drugs or alcohol would be allowed on the site, there would be less traffic than previous uses of the listed building and insisting the women who would use the centre ‘have a right to get well’.
But rather than vote on the application, Labour councillors put forward a motion to defer the decision while residents’ concerns about changes made to the application were investigated.
Liberal Democrat and Conservative members abstained, meaning the vote was carried and the application will instead come before September’s planning meeting.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/trade_directory/