Blackburn shopping plan for EG On The Move

Zuber Issa’s EG On The Move has submitted plans for a shopping development near its Blackburn headquarters.

The new complex is planned to be a 11,000 sq ft retail building including a 4,500 sq ft convenience store and five smaller retail units on Haslingden Road.

Colne-based Barrowclough Architects drew up the design and access statement for the planning application on the vacant 1.3 acre greenland site which is around half a mile from the M65.

Barrowclough said in the design statement: “The intention is to create a small, primarily food retail convenience store as an anchor to the site bringing footfall from the residential areas and the hospital to support the other smaller retail units.

“These retail units would be ideal for smaller start up businesses from the local area.

“The building has been designed to create a contemporary and inviting retail aesthetic. The primary elevation is mostly glazed creating shop front displays and familiar retail access.”

It adds the development will ‘provide positive amenities for local residents, commuters, employees in the surrounding employment areas and the Royal Blackburn Hospital’.

It is claimed the site presents a ‘strategic development opportunity’, as it has been identified in Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's local plan as an opportunity for spacial growth ideal for mixed use and growth’.

The application, which was submitted to Blackburn Council on Wednesday, could also see 50 car parking spaces - five of which will have electric vehicle charging points.

Lancashire Business View reported that EG On The Move continued to accelerate its growth with the acquisition of 27 sites in the UK for leading independent petrol forecourt operator MPK Garages.

The inclusion of the MPK sites has edged the EG On The Move network towards 200 sites in the UK.