PLANS to knock down vacant offices which have stood empty for more than a decade to make way for new apartments are set to be approved.

Proposals were submitted to Burnley Council to knock down the offices at the former Perseverance Mill in Padiham and refurbish a former laboratory to build 10 new flats and a house in their place.

And a report to go before the council’s development control committee on Thursday recommends approving the application.

The design has been developed through consultation with Burnley Borough Council planning department, and is relevant to a larger development of 56 dwellings currently nearing completion on the adjacent former Perseverance Mill site for Calico Homes.

A series of building surveys have been carried out, the existing structures on Wytham Street largely remain unsafe, with the first and ground floors of the former properties collapsing, due to the already collapsed roofs.

A design an access statement submitted as part of the application reads: “The site consists of a group of existing terraced houses converted into offices and a former laboratory building.

“The buildings are currently vacant and in a poor state of repair. The existing occupied terraced houses along Wytham Street and Albion Street do not form part of this application.

“The redevelopment and refurbishment of the vacant buildings will create much needed new dwellings, by bringing the buildings back in to use.

“It will also deal with what is currently an unattractive and unsafe site which is an eyesore and nuisance to the existing local residents.

“The proposed redevelopment will create 11 new dwellings within the confines of application site.

“The proposed redevelopment will hopefully encourage further regeneration in the area, especially with other sites identified in the immediate area in Burnley’s new emerging local plan.

“Calico Homes are developing the nearby former mill site with 56 new dwellings laid out as semi-detached houses and terraces to match the surrounding context.”

In a report recommending the plan be approved, senior planner Janet Filbin said: "An objection has been received based on the impact of additional traffic and parking.

"The amount of traffic and parking generated by this proposal is however lower than could potentially be generated by the re-use of the existing office and industrial workshop buildings.

"Notably, Lancashire County Councik has no objections to the proposal but recommends a condition to allow for off-site improvements to be agreed which, if possible, will include a pavement around the side of the building Brook Street and street lighting.

"The impacts on traffic and parking are therefore unlikely to be significant and can be adequately mitigated by conditions as recommended by LCC Highways.

"The proposal would re-use an existing derelict site at a sustainable location for new housing.

"The proposal complies with the development plan and there are no material

considerations which outweigh this finding."

Groundwork on the former Perseverance Mill site in Padiham where the 56 homes are being built began in June last year.

At the time, it was reported around £6million will be spent on the Albion Road site with contributions from Homes and Communities Agency and Burnley Council.

Councillors and residents had campaigned for several years to get rubble and debris cleaned up from the area.