PROPOSALS have been put forward to turn the the three upper stories of a historic town centre building into six flats

F&Z Estates Ltd have applied for planning permission for the conversion at 36 to 40 Northgate, Blackburn.

The new apartments would be self-contained.

A heritage statement submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council with the application says: "The properties consisting of 36 to 40 Northgate, Blackburn are nineteenth century town centre buildings, four storeys high including rooms in the roof.

"They have a uniform brick front with modern shop fronts at ground floor level and large windows above for the second and third storeys set in pairs inside four distinct bays.

"The buildings are not ‘Listed’ in their own right but are within the Blakey Moor Conservation Area which is currently undergoing improvements.

"The ground floor of the building has been heavily altered to produce an open plan space in 36 to 40 and the whole is held up on considerable amounts of steelwork.

"There is no evidence remaining of the original shop fronts and the whole is in rather poor condition.

"It is not clear that numbers 36 to 40 were ever three separate shops because in 1905 the property was the Alliance Hotel.

"It is clear that 36 to 40 were built concurrently but as three separate ‘units’ as the original form and original staircases are all still in place above the ground floor and all rooms at the front had fireplaces, the chimney breasts for which are still present.

"The proposal is to convert the upper three storeys of the building with six self contained flats retaining as far as possible the existing form of the building, including leaving existing chimney breasts and utilising one of the two remaining original staircases in situ.

"It is clear that the upper storeys of 36 to 40 Northgate have been largely unused for many years.

"This proposal would reinstate the original use of the spaces as domestic accommodation in an accessible town centre location.

"The proposal will have no detrimental effect on the appearance of the frontage onto Northgate.

"Therefore the proposal can only enhance the heritage aspects of the building by bringing the space back into use and thereby ensuring it’s maintenance for the future."