DETAILS and designs for a 76 homes housing estate on a flagship multi-million pound development have been revealed.

Councillors have been recommended to give the go-ahead for the mix of three and four-bedroomed properties on the site of the former Lower Darwen Paper Mill near junction 4 of the M65.

If Blackburn with Darwen Council planning committee approves the detailed scheme on Thursday evening, the homes on the 23.5 acre site between Milking Lane and Greenbank Terrace will be developed in two separate parcels.

The first is scheduled for completion in December 2024 and the second a year later.

The development by Cheshire-based Elan Homes was given outline approval in February 2020.

In October the committee approved the first three of four commercial units on the project called ‘Mill Bank’.

A report to councillors by planning officer Tom Wiggans recommends granting detailed permission for the new housing with 13 conditions.

It says: "The access road between Greenbank Terrace and Milking Lane is now fully open for public use.

"Approval of this scheme for 76 dwellings will allow further progress to be made towards the redevelopment of the whole site.

"The proposal will deliver a high quality scheme bringing this visually prominent site into use.

"The site is a former paper mill which lies to the immediate south west of Milking Lane and to the north east of Greenbank Terrace, Lower Darwen.

"The site is linked to junction 4 of the M65 motorway via the Eccleshill Link Road to the west via Greenbank Terrace.

"The 76 dwellings would be separated from the employment uses by the natural topography of the site.

"The proposed dwellings would be split into two distinctly separate parcels of land.

"A phasing plan has been submitted which shows when the plots are expected to be brought forward - plot one of 45 homes in December 2024 and plot two with 31 houses in December 2025.

"There are no affordable dwellings being provided on site. All 76 units will be sold as open market dwellings.

"An off-site affordable housing contribution, including a contribution towards green infrastructure, is being agreed through the planning process.

"The houses would comprise a mix of either three or four bed detached or semi-detached dwellings.

"The proposed scheme has been well designed.

"Each plot would have a private rear garden with external access, a front driveway and/or garage for parking, and the vast majority of plots would have front garden areas, which is welcomed.

"No representations were received from local residents during the consultation period."