PLANS to bulldoze a town centre car park to make way for a £6.5million state-of-the art leisure and health centre look set to be approved by Burnley Council.

The proposals to redevelop the St Peter's car park site to provide a new health centre, including GP surgeries, an out of hours medical centre, a dental surgery and a pharmacy, are to be discussed at a meeting of the council's Development Control Committee next week.

Plans also include sports facilities to replace the Thompson Centre, which is due to be knocked down.

A report to committee states the new buildings will be built on land between the River Brun and Bank Parade. There will be pedestrian access to the site from Church Street and Bank Parade and vehicles coming in from Church Street and going out onto Bank Parade.

Burnley Business Centre will also be demolished to make way for the development, which will be the first of its kind in the country, if the plans are given the go-ahead.

According to the report Burnley Civic Society do not think this is the most suitable site because of the lack of parking spaces proposed which will have a knock-on effect on town centre parking.

The owners of a house in Bank Parade have also objected claiming that they will suffer a loss of privacy and that the plans will increase existing traffic and parking problems.

Council planning officers admit in the report that the number of parking spaces proposed falls short of the Lancashire County Council parking standards, but goes on to say that the site's accessibility by other means of transport mean that is not a problem.

A Burnley Council spokesman said: "This is an exciting and ambitious scheme that will bring huge benefits to Burnley. This building would put health and exercise side by side, right in the heart of the town centre."

The proposals being discussed by the committee on Thursday are only at the outline stage and further detailed plans will have to be submitted for the scheme, which is being developed by Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust and Burnley Council.

If the council is minded to approve the proposals they will have to be referred to the secretary of state because the site is earmarked for retail development in the current Local Plan and in the emerging Local Plan it is allocated for employment uses.