Plans for a new car park next to one of Blackburn's largest wedding venues look set to be given the go ahead at a council meeting later this week.
The partly-retrospective plans are for a parking area on a former builders' yard at the junction of Harrison Street and Sumner Street, to serve the Grand Venue in Blackburn.
A section of the 4,500 sq metre site is already used for guests parking at the lavish £1 million wedding venue, which opened in 2018, but this has been done without the necessary permission, so the application is partly retrospective.
The new plan would see a second, larger area flattened and turning into parking space.
The site is currently vacant and has previously been used for storing building materials
In documents being put before Blackburn with Darwen Council's Planning and Highways Committee on Thursday, March 21, it states the plans represent "a beneficial reuse of the site which would alleviate congestion and instances of on-street parking associated with functions held at the Grand Venue".
Previously the venue has had to fund a residents' parking permit scheme to tackle the issue of anti-social on-street parking.
The venue has also previously had issues with breaching its permitted hours of operation, 11am to 7pm, having been observed open as late as 2am on occasions.
It was granted temporary 12 month permission to stay open until 11pm but this expired in March 2023, meaning its hours have returned to normal, which would also apply to use of the car park, to avoid late night disruption to nearby residents.
The documents state the change of use would "contribute positively to the overall physical, social, environmental and economic character of the area", and "remove pre-existing impacts of on-street parking, to the overall benefit of local residents".
Councillors have been recommended to approve the plans at the upcoming meeting later this week, with a number of conditions, including a number of assessments needing to be carried out, restrictions on hours of work and operation, and requirements for flood management and soft landscaping on-site.
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