New building for Blackburn kitchen and car parts firms

The land, at the junction of New Garden Street and Eccles Street off Bolton Road, will host a new commercial unit with a warehouse, workshop, retail space and offices.

They would house a car parts business and kitchen showroom.

The site is vacant following the demolition of a previous commercial building.

Akber Sange, of Majrona Karparts Ltd, has been granted planning permission from Blackburn with Darwen Council for the complex.

The businesses to be located in the new building are established firms that require new premises to operate more efficiently.

Artist's impressions of the business site

They are Majrona Karparts (trading as Moffats) and Furniture Technique.

Currently Majrona Karpats trades from a shop unit in Bolton Road, but has outgrown this unit and needs more floorspace for storage of spare parts.

Furniture Technique, a kitchen supply company that previously occupied the demolished building, needs a showroom, assembly workshop and storage.

Since the car parts business needs more space and the kitchen business requires a display showroom, Furniture Technique will occupy the Bolton Road unit with its display shopfront visible from the main road.

The car parts business, which operates mainly via telephone orders, will occupy the proposed unit to the rear.

A report by senior planner Christian Barton recommends approval with 15 conditions including specified opening hours of 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and 10am to 3pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

His report says: "The site is mostly scrubbed over, and it is currently partly used as an informal parking area.

"This application involves the erection of two-storey commercial unit.

"A warehouse and retail space would be provided on the ground floor with a workshop and office space above.

"Two businesses would initially occupy the building.

"The scale, appearance and orientation of the proposed building would be broadly consistent with those in the locality.

"The development would have no off-street parking facilities and there is no land to provide them given that the proposed building would occupy all of the site.

"On-street parking opportunities are at a significant premium locally and this development would not aid that situation.

"However, given that a similar development has been approved previously, it would be unreasonable to resist the development on highways grounds.

"It should also be noted that a similar building has been recently demolished.

"Subject to appropriate conditions, the proposals would be acceptable in principle.

"There are no material reasons to object to the application."