Landmark Blackburn pub flats green lit by planners
The revitalisation a landmark former pub building in Blackburn town centre into nine flats can now go ahead. Planning permission has been granted for a revised scheme which drops proposals for a new restaurant in the premises of the vacant Adelphi Hotel.
In January Younus Khan, of ZT Properties, was granted planning permission to convert the former pub in Railway Road into a job-creating ground-floor restaurant with six apartments on the two floors above. In August the new owner of the premises, Nabeel Hussain of the Bolton-based Pinsent Group, submitted a revised planning application for the building which replaces the restaurant with three one-bedroom flats.
Now Blackburn with Darwen Council has granted planning permission with four conditions for the rejuvenation of the four-storey Victorian building at the intersection of the town centre’s Cathedral and Darwen Street Conservation areas close to the railway station. The previous planning permission including the ground floor restaurant will remain valid should Mr Hussain decide a new eatery is viable.
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The pub closed in September 2022 after years running as a cabaret bar, and played an important role for the LGBTQ+ community in Blackburn.
A report recommending approval by principal planning officer Nick Blackledge says: “The application site relates to a four-storey building located within the Darwen Street Conservation Area and Cathedral Quarter of Blackburn town centre. The building holds a prominent position at the junction of Railway Road and High Street.
“The building was last in use as a public house – The Adelphi (now vacant) – and two upper floor flats. Full planning permission is sought for change of use of existing vacant former public house at ground floor level into three one-bed flats and conversion of existing vacant basement floor level into two storage units.
“The application follows planning permission being granted for change of use of ground floor from vacant public house to restaurant and creation of six one-bed flats at first and second floor. The subject application seeks to create an additional three flats at ground floor level, with associated external works, and the consequent removal of the restaurant element previously approved.
“The proposed residential use is explicitly supported by town centre policy. Moreover, the council’s Cathedral Quarter Supplementary Planning Document references the following strategic aims: ‘Our vision is to create a vibrant mixed use quarter that has a true sense of place and is a source of civic pride.
“The success of the Cathedral Quarter will be to create a vibrant and attractive area that acts as a stimulus to the long term regeneration of the town centre.’
“The proposal would not result in any substantive harm to the character or appearance of the Darwen Street Conservation Area. Furthermore, there will be no harm to the contribution made by the setting to the character and appearance of the Cathedral Conservation Area, nor to the contribution made by the setting to the nearby listed buildings.”
Blackburn with Darwen Council Conservative regeneration spokesperson Cllr Paul Marrow said in August, after the restaurant element was dropped from the plans: “This is a shame. We need things to bring people into Blackburn town centre. This is another nail in the coffin of its nighttime economy.”