Plans for new garden centre in Colne postponed
Published: 19 January 2017 - Jenny Wonnacott
A major new garden centre planned for Colne, Lancashire, has been put on hold due to disputes over access arrangements for the site.
The plans for Colne were described as “controversial” when planning permission was first granted
According to The Lancashire Telegraph, Boundary Mill had planned for its new garden centre to be developed on a 9,000sq ft stretch of land off Greenfield Road near the M65. But access arrangements to the site have come under dispute. Friends of Greenfield Nature Reserve have also protested that the development would be detrimental to the nearby reserve.
The proposals for the site were outlined back in 2014, with promises of up to 300 jobs for locals. The existing planning permission, granted by Pendle Council, is due to expire in April.
Said Boundary Mills chairman Richard Bannister's assistant Gill Laws, “[The plans are] just on hold at the moment because we didn’t manage to resolve the highways issues associated with the project.
“We have got other projects, which have taken priority, but our intentions have certainly not been shelved for the site.”
Local councillor Tony Greaves, meanwhile, pointed out, “People living in Greenfield Road will be happy if this does not take place but as an authority we have to be mindful of the 300 jobs which were promised and the business rates it would have generated for the borough.”
Initial work carried out at the site included the clearing of trees and some minor works at the junction of Greenfield Road and Whitewalls Drive.