Executive Asked to Approve Compulsory Purchase Order for Former Co-op Building in Nelson

At their meeting on Thursday 27 August, councillors on the Executive will decide whether or not to apply for a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) on 20-26 Albert Street.

The property falls within the Whitefield Housing Market Renewal Priority Area.

Councillor Sonia Robinson, who represents housing regeneration in Pendle, said :

"We've already done much refurbishment work on homes in this part of Nelson, including Group Repair Schemes covering over 200 houses on Lomeshaye Road, Every Street and streets surrounding St Mary's church.

"The renovation of three blocks of homes on Every Street has already begun the transformation of the area nearer the town centre and the community are encouraged by the speed at which things are now progressing.

"In June the former Printworks building was demolished and we're now negotiating with a registered social landlord about providing affordable housing on the site.

"The next step will be the proposed refurbishment work on homes in Stanley Street  which will start in the next few months. Then we hope to move onto further streets, row by row.

"Acquiring 20-26 Albert Street would mean that we could include it in our refurbishment plans, for the benefit of the whole area.

"Whitefield residents are behind this move to rid their area of this eyesore building."

The property, known as the 'the Co-op building', is in a poor state of disrepair.

Once a factory, the building has been empty for the last decade and was damaged by fire in 2000.

Although a new roof was installed in 2008, the windows are boarded up and the interior of the building is still in a fire damaged state.

Iftekhar Bokhari, Senior Regeneration Officer, said :

"We've tried to work with the owner of this building. Unfortunately, that hasn't been possible and we're now forced to do down the Compulsory Purchase Order route.

"Getting a CPO on this property will give us a really good opportunity to move forward with the redevelopment of this area of Nelson.

"There is already a demand in the area for large family-sized housing. If proposals for a new primary school in Whitefield get the go ahead, then that demand could well increase.

"This property on Albert Street could well fit the bill."

If the Council was successful in acquiring 20-26 Albert Street by CPO, we would submit a planning application for change of use and conversion of the property to homes.

For more information about the plans to acquire 20-26 Albert Street by Compulsory Purchase Order, contact Iftekhar Bokhari on (01282) 661362 or iftekhar.bokhari@pendle.gov.uk.