A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an extension on to a Darwen mill is going ahead - despite councillors turning the project down.

Bosses at Chapman Envelopes were given permission to extend the New Waterside Paper Mill, at Eccleshill, in 1994.

But the granting of planning permission only lasts five years, meaning the company had to re-apply to the council for consent to build a warehouse, office and service yard at some stage in 1999.

Councillors turned that permission down in response to a flood of complaints from residents in the area.

But Chapman Envelopes began work on the extension before their five year deadline from 1994 ran out, leaving councillors powerless to stop them.

Residents had mounted a campaign in 1994 to prevent the extension but they backed off after meeting with Chapman Envelopes bosses when they said the work was vital to the firm's wellbeing.

But in the intervening five years, the company has sold its envelope factory in Walsall and its carton factory in Blackburn, as well as closing down the New Waterside Paper Mill and the Weir Waste paper company at its Eccleshill site.

Housholders in the area wrote to the council saying the closures meant the existing buildings should be enough to meet the needs of Chapman Envelopes without the need to build out on to green belt land.

And planning experts said that permission had been granted in 1994 on the basis of 160 jobs being retained as a result - staffing levels which no longer exist in 1999. But the company took advantage of its 1994 permission in the nick of time before councillors could turn down their 1999 application.

Planning committee chairman Coun Frank Connor, said: "Unfortunately, the company has gone ahead and started work. The planning department will write to objectors to explain that our hands have been tied. The company have the law on their side and there is absolutely nothing we can do about this."

John Townend, managing director of Chapman Envelopes, said: "The company has had a rough time in recent years and that is why we did not take advantage of our 1994 permission. But the situation has now changed and we have begun the extension work."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.