A NEW employment and housing plan to renovate a Padiham site is in the pipeline.

Previous attempts to redevelop the Station Road location alongside Linear Park have been unsuccesful, with battle lines drawn between councillors and developer Muller Renaissance.

Now Renaissance Padiham Ltd has returned with a fresh plan for between 1,468 and 2,195 square metres of employment land, 100 homes and a sheltered housing scheme.

An earlier application for homes and sheltered housing at the former Riley's snooker factory site were turned down by Burnley Borough Council in July 2009.

Councillors had claimed the proposals would lead to the loss of an important economic improvement area for the market town.

An appeal was lodged by Muller and a public inquiry ruled that a quarter of the site should have employment provision.

The new application proposes a mixed use scheme with 25 per cent allocated for employment uses and the remaining 75 per cent for residential.

Access would be provided from Station Road and planners say the design of the development would see the Station Road frontage improved to create a more impressive gateway into the town.

Plans would also retain wall and bridge structures to give character to the development.

Coun Roger Frost, Burnley cabinet member overseeing planning, said: “The future of this site has been a very contentious issue in the past.

“Planning items only come to my notice when there is an objection to them and this recent application seems to be progressing smoothly.

“In the past, councillors felt there was a need to create employment here.

"I also personally felt the design was inadequate in the last application.”