The proposed redevelopment of a Blackburn care sales lot into three commercial buildings has been refused planning permission on grounds of trees and traffic.

Naeem Akhtar has asked for approval for the the erection of three storage units and the alteration of the existing vehicle access point for land at Cob Wall, on the corner of Whalley Old Road and Eastwood Street, in the town's Bastwell and Daisyfield ward

However, Blackburn with Darwen Council has rejected his scheme.

A report by senior planning officer, Christian Barton, recommending refusal, said: "The application site is a piece of commercial land that is located within Blackburn.

"A car sales place is currently in operation from there. The site houses a sales cabin and a number of car sales plots.

"Dwellings surround to three sides with commercial buildings to the north.

"Brick/stone walls and fencing define the boundaries with vehicle access gained from a single point off Whalley Old Road.

"Three protected lime trees previously grew within the site, which have been unlawfully felled following August 2016.

"This application involves the erection of a block of three commercial units. The units would have a combined footprint of circa 397 square metres and a dual-pitched roof up to 7.2 metres in height.

"Red bricks would be used to finish their elevations with profiled metal sheets used for the roof.

"Three powder coated steel roller shutter doors would be installed with a number of steel pedestrian doors also proposed.

"Seven parking bays would be provided within the courtyard are, and the exiting access point would be widened to eight metres.

"Two new lime trees are also proposed to the north of unit three."

The application was rejected for three reasons:

  • Bcause the constrained layout of the development, the proposals would have the potential to lead to vehicles waiting on a busy main road that has various parking and traffic flow restrictions in place, which would prejudice the efficient and convenient movement of all highways users and lead to an unacceptable impact on highway safety:
  • Because the proposals would not be provisioned with appropriate facilities for vehicular access and off-street servicing, and would fail to allow for the efficient delivery of goods, and access by service and emergency vehicles;
  • Because the proposals involve an inadequate replacement planting scheme positioned within a part of the site that would be heavily constrained by built form and such an outcome would fail to avoid the potential for future conflict between buildings and trees.