Meeting planned over Issa brothers St Mary's College plans

The charitable body set up by Blackburn’s billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zubair Issa was told last month it did not have the necessary planning permission to use an old building at the former St Mary’s College in Shear Brow for events.

They have sought to rectify this, with retrospective planning permission being submitted earlier this week to ensure the building can be used for events such as wedding receptions, birthdays, music events, and conferences.

St Mary's College in Shear Brow, which closed in 2022 due to financial issues (Image: Archive)

However, residents living around the college are unhappy with the proposals having already seen the effect the unauthorised events had on their neighbourhood.

Local resident Sabir Esa said fireworks were being set off late into the night at some of the events while traffic in the already tight streets around the area meant some residents were unable to leave their homes, or had to take unnecessarily long routes to get into town.

He said: “It’s an open meeting to Blackburn because we feel it’s important that everybody knows how planning works in Blackburn and how the loopholes have been exploited by bigger companies.

“We’ve invited the local councillors to join us, we’ve also invited the MP Adnan Hussain to join us if he’s got the time.

"We’ve also extended an invitation to the developers to give them the opportunity to come and do a presentation to the residents and give us the opportunity to ask questions.

The Issa brothers (Image: Archive)“This development is not appropriate for the area. It’s too close to the residents and we’re already suffering with littering, other environmental problems, traffic.

"Four Lane Ends is prone to accidents already and this would exacerbate everything further.”

Mr Esa also said there is not enough information in the planning application to justify it “going through delegated powers”.

He added: “It needs to go to a committee and it needs to be looked at before they take it further.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council previously took enforcement action following complaints from residents living in the area about excessive noise and dangerous parking outside the venue.

A planning application submitted to them said: “Consent is sought for the change of use of a building at the former St Mary’s College, Shear Brow, Blackburn, into two private hire function hall rooms. The space was formerly the college’s assembly/lecture hall.

“The proposed function rooms would cater for private events such as wedding receptions, birthdays, music events, and conferences.

"They would be available for hire mainly on Thursday and Friday evenings and on weekends.”

The statement continued by saying there is “much demand” for this type of development in Blackburn and the proposal is considered “to put the vacant site to good use” – creating jobs for local people and contributing to sustainable economic growth.

Last month, the council served a temporary stop notice on the owners of the site, the Issa Foundation, and the leaseholders of the site, Inara Events Ltd.

The meeting will take place on Monday, September 30, at Revidge Fold Church in Shear Brow, starting at 7.30pm.