Bamber Bridge industrial estate revamp approved

More than 150 jobs are expected to be created after plans to modernise a South Ribble industrial development were given the go ahead.

The Old Mill Industrial Estate in Bamber Bridge is to be revamped in an overhaul that its operator, Indurent, hopes will bring new businesses to the town – and provide a place for existing local companies to expand.

It is estimated that the revitalised School Lane site – the design of which was approved at a recent meeting of South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee – will boost the area’s economy by £5.8m a year, generating 170 full-time equivalent new roles.

Permission had previously been granted in 2022 for another proposed redesign of the plot, which would have seen the creation of 44 new units – but that blueprint never got off the drawing board after it was decided that the units would have been “too small to be attractive to the market”, according to a report presented to the committee.

Mark Aylward, the agent for the application, told committee members that “market requirements have clearly changed” in recent years.

As a result, the revised plan for the site will see 16 units spring up across three newly-built blocks on land that has functioned as an industrial estate since the 1970s, after originally being home to a 19th-century textile mill.

The new facilities will house companies operating in the light industrial, industrial and storage and distribution sectors.

“Indurent has recognised that parts of this estate do need upgrades and have noted that there is a demand for high-quality employment space for small businesses,” Mr. Aylward said.

Some areas of the site have already been cleared under the previous permission – although several dozen units are set to remain in situ unchanged.

The blocks within which the new units will be housed will be “bungalow height” at their lowest point, according to council planning officers Debbie Robets, with sloping roofs rising to a maximum of 9.5 metres at the point furthest away from nearby residential properties.

The proposal prompted little discussion at the meeting, with members voting to approve it, subject to the committee chair and the council’s planning boss giving the thumbs up to a legal agreement the applicant has offered to enter into not to pursue any further part of the 2022 plans. That arrangement was necessary so as not to create a “substandard” highways layout within the site, the committee heard.

Committee member Phil Smith said the company’s vision for the site “ticks all the boxes”.