PLANS for a £3.5million canalside office block in the heart of Blackburn have been unveiled.

Housing Association Twin Valley Homes was today set to get the go-ahead for a two-storey complex, to be built alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Eanam.

The company, which was created when Blackburn with Darwen Council decided to sell off its 10,000 council homes in 2001, has never had a permanent base in the town.

Since the stock transfer, staff from the council's old housing department have been based in temporary offices at the Exchange block above Ainsworth Street.

Their new offices will be built on the site of the old Prospect Mill, little of which is left now.

A report to the planning and highways committee states that the design of the new office block is sympathetic towards its surroundings, particularly the canal.

A seating area next to the canal will also be created for the 100 staff expected to be based at the building.

The report to the committee also recommends that Twin Valley Homes provide some form of public art next to the canal.

This fits in with the council's policy of asking firms spending more than £250,000 on developments within the town centre to contribute one per cent of the project's value towards public art.

That means Twin Valley's public art for the canal could be worth up to £35,000.

Chief executive Phil Richards said: "We are pleased to be able to submit a planning application for the new headquarters of Twin Valley Homes on the Eanam waterside.

"It promises to be an exciting project with a good design and in a superb waterside location.

"This will considerably improve the existing derelict site of the former Prospects Mill.

"In our transfer of housing stock from the council it was acknowledged that the investment in the borough would provide a major regeneration opportunity for both improving our homes and for building new office accommodation.

"We included in the original business plan to build a new stand-alone head office, and this planning application will enable Twin Valley Homes to have its own self contained headquarters and will reduce the long term running cost for the company.

"We are fortunate that due to the efforts of our staff and the out performance of our original business plan we will be able to finance the new building from our existing loan facility, meaning we will be able to do this at no extra cost to our tenants."

"We are able to maintain for the second year running, the lowest rent increase for 14 years with a 2.7 per cent rent increase from April next year."

Work will start in February if approval is given.