Plans for 11 new homes to be built on two small patches of “bleak wasteland” close to Colne Boundary Outlet have been submitted to the council.

If successful, the application to Pendle Council would see the homes built on a steeply sloped patch of grassland in Bankfield Street, Colne, and a separate paved area, with the two sites split by Hargreaves Street.

It would include eight semi-detached properties and three terraced homes, all with three bedrooms and each with their own gardens and two off-street parking spaces per property.

Internally, the homes would feature open plan living, dining and kitchen areas and a downstairs toilet on the ground floor, with two double bedrooms and one single bedroom on the first floor, plus a family bathroom and an en-suite attached to the master bedroom.

The location is in a mainly residential area, with a number of mill complexes nearby and the Boundary Outlet site 50 metres north, though with no through access.

The application site sits within the Primet Bridge Conservation Area in Colne, close to the Grade-II listed Primet Foundry.

The plans state: “The Primet Bridge Conservation Area is primarily industrial and 19th-century in origin and character, with Victorian textile mills and other premises providing the fundamental interest, as well as other historic structures including the railway viaduct.

“The application site was formerly occupied by terraced housing, demolished in the 1960s or later.

“During the second half of the 19th-century, an area of terraced and back-to-back housing was established on the south side of Bunker's Hill, and no doubt to a large degree occupied by those employed in the works which expanded along the Colne Water during the same period.

“Partial clearance of it began in the 1960s. There was subsequently some 20th-century municipal housing built within the area, but a number of plots were also left vacant.”

The plans go on to say the paved site has a “strongly negative” impact on the area, being “neglected and overgrown” and making the area look like a “bleak wasteland”.

It also claims the larger site is also not a positive contributor to the area.

The plans add: “The proposed dwellings would replace open spaces which do not contribute positively to the conservation area, and in part clearly detract from it.

“The house types are of a scale, design, and materials, which would fit well within the present mix of terraced houses, and would preserve and enhance the appearance of the conservation area.”

Public consultation on the plans is open until Monday, September 23, and to comment on the plans visit the Pendle Council planning website.