On the Banks, the regeneration of former industrial sites in Burnley’s Weaver’s Triangle conservation area has won two awards at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) North West Planning Achievement Awards: best regeneration project and the overall planning achievement award. Indigo Planning was the planning consultant for joint venture development partners Burnley Borough Council and Barnfield Construction.
The £100 million project, set on the north and south banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on the western side of Burnley, includes:
- The North West’s first University Technical College, housed in a restored Grade II listed Victorian mill. It was the first project in the north of England to receive Regional Growth Fund Round 2 investment.
- A new headquarters for the Prince’s Trust in the restored Sandygate Mill, where it has established a new youth charity facility named ‘The Pennine Lancashire Centre’.
- Seven commercial offices of 51 sq m to 756 sq m (550 sq ft to 8,140 sq ft) in the former Slater Terrace building.
- A live music venue accommodating up to 3,000 people.
- A hotel and restaurant alongside Sandygate/Trafalgar Street.
- A food village and student accommodation off Sandygate Square
- A new bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and highway improvements to Sandygate and Trafalgar Street.
The RTPI panel saw the scheme as “typifying many of the challenges and solutions facing former industrial areas and towns within the North West region”, and praised the “manner in which an older industrial area was being redeveloped using a combination of heritage and regenerative techniques to bring new and viable uses to this area.”
Gareth Smith, Project Director on the scheme on behalf of Barnfield Construction – which is the investor, development partner and main contractor for the project – said: “Receiving this award goes some way to highlighting the dedication and passion the team has shown in delivering this complex regeneration project. The University Technical College, in particular, has been a real catalyst for enabling further development within the On the Banks scheme and we are delighted to be working with the same consultants on future phases of the project.”
Daniel Jackson, Associate at Indigo Planning, said: “The Weavers Triangle is one of the finest surviving Victorian industrial landscapes in the UK. On the Banks has secured its future with a mix of commercial, education and leisure uses and restored its historic buildings. – but more importantly it is bringing investment and opportunity back into the town. We are pleased that the judges have recognised both the contribution that the development is making to Burnley and the quality of the Borough Council and Barnfield Construction’s approach.”
The awards will be announced at the RTPI’s Centenary Dinner on 3 October at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate and also at the RTPI AGM on the afternoon of Friday 26 September 2014.
