The former health centre in Blackburn’ s Ash Grove is to be converted into eight shops after the Local Review Body overturned planning officers’ refusal of proposals.
Blackburn native, and Bathgate councillor, Willie Boyle said the council had failed the village with the shopping centre's closure - and argued that to block the new plans would fail them again.
He pointed out that the village has already lost its community centre and is set to lose what little retail space there is left with the demolition of part of the shopping centre close by, and its eventual replacement with houses.
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He said the new shops would be an “opportunity to put things right.”
The former health centre has lain empty since the new Blackburn Partnership building was opened three years ago. It provides home to council services, the new health centre and the library.
Zulkernan Ahmed had applied for planning permission to subdivide the building to create eight individual shop units open to a range of services, including hot food takeaways.
Planners had rejected the proposal because it promised only six parking spaces, instead of the 18 required under planning rules.
Councillor Pauline Clark pointed out that the building was adjacent to the carpark used by the Partnership and shopping centre and there were also parking facilities across the road associated with the football pitches.
Councillor Boyle told the meeting that having grown up in the village the health centre had always been considered part of the town centre, despite planners assertions that it lay on the boundary.
Addressing placemaking, defined as “ a collaborative approach to planning, designing and managing public spaces, to create places where people want to live and work,” he said: “As a council we have failed miserably as far as placemaking principles is concerned in Blackburn”.
He added the council had been “hell-bent” on building the new partnership building. This had led to one of the largest units in the shopping centre being vacated and lying empty. In the long term this has led to the shopping centre being earmarked for partial demolition as there was no commercial interest in the units . At present the Scotmid supermarket on the southern side of the arcade will remain.
Councillor Boyle said: “That car parking space for what was for Blackburn town centre is now only going to serve the supermarket, if it stays, and the Partnership. There’s adequate parking space, and given this is town centre space and this [the former health centre] was a public building in a central location what placemaking principles do we expect this building to be used for?
“I’m really disappointed at the lack of forward planning here. The community centre has gone, the shopping centre is about to go and there’ll be two retail units across the road where the garage was. I welcome the opportunity to put things right and give the people of Blackburn the additional retail space they clearly need.”
Independent councillor Stuart Borrowman seconded a proposal to allow the shops plan to go ahead, adding: “I think Willie has summed it up well. The council doesn’t have any placemaking instinct, not in planning, not in housing, not in property services. This is shown up here. I think this, provided the parking lay-by can be installed, I’d be happy to support the appeal.”
