New Marks & Spencer food hall approved again

M&S said they will not renew the lease for their existing store in Blackburn town centre

Proposals for a £10m Marks and Spencer food hall on a new out-of-town Lancashire retail park have been approved again after councillors rejected an alternative scheme to locate it to a former Thwaites brewery site.

The decision was taken by Hyndburn Council's planning committee in the wake of the High Court quashing its original decision to grant permission for the scheme at Whitebirk, Blackburn, forcing the process to be re-run.

Now the plans are set to go ahead subject to any further legal challenges.

During the meeting M&S's town planning manager Philip Marsden said the retailer will not renew the lease for their existing store in Blackburn town centre when it expires in September 2027.

'Backers not blockers'

He said the retailer wanted a store at the Frontier Park retail park, owned by the Issa Brothers, the former owners of Asda who made their money in petrol stations.

"Put simply, it's here or nowhere," he said.

"We want to move here and we want to be part of Hyndburn's future."

Mr Marsden said the existing Blackburn store was not fit for purpose and the proposed food hall would protect its current 75 staff 's employment as part of bringing 120 jobs to the new development.

The meeting unanimously voted for a proposal from the authority's growth boss, councillor Scott Brerton, which approved the application on the grounds that there was no preferable site for the M&S store nearby and the economic benefits it would bring to the borough.

He echoed Rishton ward's councillor Kate Walsh's reason for granting planning permission that "we need to be backers not blockers".

Matthew Wyatt from PWA planning on behalf of Monte Blackburn, the property arm of Mohsin and Zuber Issa's business empire, told the meeting: "The site is currently a car park for the Hampton by Hilton Hotel.

"This is not the loss of active, productive employment land.

"The financial viability appraisal by Savills, who are well reputed and and experienced advisors, demonstrates the non-viability of the Morrison's site."

He added it would add "real opportunities, real livelihoods and real growth for Hyndburn", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.