Huge office development plan for Barrowford site. (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Huge office development plan for Barrowford site.

12:50pm Thursday 31st December 2009 in

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ONE of the biggest office developments in East Lancashire will create around 1,300 new jobs.

The announcement for land off the Fence bypass at Barrowford has been welcomed by business leaders as a ‘hugely important’ boost.

They believe it is a clear sign that the East Lancashire economy could be seeing the first green shoots of recovery.

Investment giant Peel Holdings, which operates the Trafford Centre, Manchester, is behind the scheme, just off junction 13 of the M65.

The first phase of the Riverside Business Park development, behind Nelson and Colne College, is already under construction.

But another nine business courts, each containing between one and five buildings, will be constructed around a main trunk road.

The plans had initially been put on hold at the start of the recession, the firm said but an application has now been submitted to Pendle Council.

Coun Mohammed Iqbal, a Pendle county and borough councillor, hailed the potential at the Barrowford development.

He said: “This is an important site and I welcome this level of investment in Pendle.

“It is quite a large site and the potential for it is enormous.

"Clearly this would have a knock-on effect for traffic, which would need to be considered."

The news comes as further progress has been made over another development.

Crunch talks between British Waterways and Lancashire County Council are taking place over a new bridge across the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

The move would give the go-ahead to plans for a new business park at the former Hepworths in Hapton, called Burnley Bridge, which could create 1,600 jobs.

Mike Damms, chief executive of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, welcomed progress with both the Barrowford and Burnley Bridge sites.

He added: “These investments are hugely important to Burnley and Pendle and the growth of their economies, which we know is needed.

“We have got a pretty highly-skilled workforce and local authorities which realise the need for economic regeneration.

“We are also working now at a Pennine Lancashire level to remove the old local boundaries, regarding investment.”

Planning agent Andrew Bickerdike said, on behalf of Peel Investments (North), that special consideration had been given to the visual appearance of the offices, especially in the north-east corner bordering St Michael’s Court housing estate.

The company came into ownership of the land when it bought the Manchester Ship Canal Company in the 1980s.

The company is currently buoyant after recently submitting plans for a £4.5billion business park development in Wirral.

It also operates three airports including Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

He said: “The development will provide high-quality business park accommodation which the applicants and its investors strongly believe will create an unparalelled opportunity to attract inward investment and economic prosperity to the borough.”

And he said that because of the potential for an increase in cars on the roads around the park, an offer has been made to pay for highway improvements, which could see traffic signals installed at the nearby M65 junction 13 roundabouts.

Coun Martin Smith, regeneration cabinet member, told a Burnley full council meeting that discussions were ongoing between British Waterways and the county council over access to the Burnley Bridge site, which was given planning approval earlier this year.

An announcement regarding the outcome of the bridge talks, for a new structure near the M65 junction nine, is expected in the New Year.

Leeds-based Eshton Property Development is backing the scheme and the Lancashire Telegraph revealed in the autumn that gifts firm Findel has signed a deal to be the anchor business there.