A BLUEPRINT to redevelop an ‘eyesore’ former industrial site with 79 houses and flats has been revealed.

BXB Land Solutions Ltd wants to redevelop the site of the former Vernon Carus Mill near Hoddlesden village.

Its scheme will see the derelict building remains turned into one, two, and three-bedroomed houses and one and two-bedroomed apartments.

The buildings will be two and two and a half storeys high and the scheme will require extensive land works.

The site in Johnson New Road was deemed unsuitable for employment uses after it was demolished in 2009 following a fire the year before.

The moorland mill has been vacant since 2003.

BXB has now submitted an outline planning application to redevelop the land with 79 new homes of ‘mixed type and tenure’.

Its scheme includes a new vehicle access from Johnson New Road and remediation, demolition and site clearance, structural landscaping, engineering works to an existing culverted water course and associated infrastructure.

The application has been welcomed by Blackburn with Darwen Council regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley and local West Pennine ward Conservative Cllr Jean Rigby.

The mill site was given planning approval in 2015 for the building of 87 homes but no development followed and has been vacant ever since and blighted by fly-tipping including a mountain of plastic rubbish dumped there in April 2017.

Cllr Riley said: “This certainly is an eyesore site. It is good news someone is prepared to put in the investment to remediate and develop it.”

Cllr Rigby said: “I am just glad to see something is finally happening there. It is an eyesore. Local residents seem happy about it.”

The application reveals that there will be large open public space including a new pond in the middle of the new homes and a new junction on Johnson New Road.

It says: “The majority of the site contains rubble from the previous demolition of the old mill building on the site and much of this material will have to be removed prior to development of the site.”

The new homes will be designed to reduce the level of energy consumed reducing running costs and environmental impact. They will include 2.5-storey ‘feature’ buildings with bay windows.

The new homes will have good countryside views.