LARGE-SCALE proposals to build hundreds of new homes on Blackburn land once earmarked for a holiday village could get the green light next week.

An application was submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council in December proposing to build up to 450 new homes on the Pleasington Lakes site off Brokenstone Road.

Black Pearl Homes bought the land in November 2017.

According to the proposals, 38 homes would be built in phase one of the development, 224 in phase two and 188 in phase three.

A report to go before the planning and highways committee recommends the proposal be approved despite objections from Livesey Parish Council as well as nearby residents.

In it, principal planning officer Martin Kenny said: “The proposal will deliver a high quality housing scheme which will widen the choice of family housing in the Borough.

“It supports the Borough’s planning strategy for housing growth as set out in the Core Strategy. Additional weight in support of the proposal is provided by; the schemes sustainability credentials that will include contributions to local education provision and works to the strategic road network; the opportunity to remediate the site, which has previously been blighted by tipping, and consideration of the fallback position that enables the site to be otherwise developed for holiday lodges and associated infrastructure.

“The proposal is also satisfactory from a technical point of view, with all issues having been addressed through the application, or capable of being controlled or mitigated through planning conditions.”

The site lies to the south of Gib Lane where up to 700 homes could be built as part of the Gib Lane masterplan.

And the Heys Lane site to the east of Broken Stone Road is earmarked for the development of another 650 homes.

To the west is the former Sappi Paper Mill site, where there is outline permission for a maximum of 500 homes to be built.

Those objecting to the proposals cite concerns about increased traffic and access, as well as a need for social housing in the borough that the development does not address.

Other fears were raised about schools and GP surgeries in the area not being able to cope with extra demand.

Speaking when plans were first lodged, Conservative group regeneration spokesman and Livesey with Pleasington ward member Cllr Derek Hardman said the site should not be used for housing.

He added: “I’m not happy about it at all.

“They have not finished the remediation work they were going to do.

“According to officers they will only remediate the land fully if they get permission for the houses.

“We have got acres and acres of land on the other side where developers are not building because the houses aren’t selling," said Cllr Hardman.