BUILDING at a major business park has been ordered to stop after council bosses found developers had deviated from their planning permission.

Large warehouses have been erected along Blackburn Road, Oswaldtwistle, within the Frontier Park business site near the border with Blackburn.

The plans were submitted by Monte Blackburn, a development company owned by the Issa brothers, in November 2019.

The industrial units formed part of the overall development which includes a service station with several food and drink outlets and a Hampton by Hilton hotel.

Images show changes to two of the buildings in comparison to the approved plans. They reveal a small increase in the development footprint and heights of the units.

The council said planning permission was granted on the site for two sets of two units – defined ‘as start-up industrial units that were smaller in scale and designed to lessen the impact on the area’.

The units were ‘staggered and there was space for landscaping between the units’ at Blackburn Road.

Following requests from residents of Richmond Crescent opposite the site, a visit by a council officer noted that the works ‘were not in accordance with the approved plans’.

In the meantime, a further planning application was submitted for the retrospective approval of the units as they have been erected.

A Hyndburn Council spokesperson said: “A letter was sent to the agent for the application in October 2021 advising that the development is not being carried out with the benefit of planning permission and that works should cease.

“There is no guarantee that any new application would be granted permission.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

PLANS: The permitted scheme in red overlaid with the present revised application

Monte Blackburn bosses said the development aims to provide work for the local community in addition to the 750 jobs created by the Frontier Park development. The site is also attracting new businesses which are relocating to the area.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The permitted scheme is shown in red on top of the proposed revision. The height difference is negligible

Residents living opposite the site said they had had concerns since the original plans were submitted due to the loss of open space.

One man, who had lived on Richmond Crescent for 40 years, said: “We used to have open green fields and you could see down to Mellor on a clear day.

“There used to be cows and sheep here and it was a beautiful view.”

Another resident of 50 years said: “We have made our views known for three years. It was open space and I am disappointed the plans have been altered.”

A householder of 25 years said: “The council has been of no help to us. It was very much an attitude that ‘you can object but it won’t make any difference’.

“We had hoped there would be some landscaping to shield the structures but it seems one building has been built too close the road.

“The building work is supposed to have been halted but we got told that it would continue at their own risk.”

The retrospective planning application remains under consideration and is likely to go before Hyndburn’s planning committee in February.

Monte was approached for a comment.