- Council to swap 1.31-acre Haslingden Road site for Penny Street plot.
- Land owned by Monte Blackburn Ltd, linked to the Issa brothers.
- Executive board expected to approve deal on Thursday.
Blackburn with Darwen Council is set to approve a land swap with a property company linked to billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, in a move officials say will benefit both sides.
The proposed deal would see the council hand over a 1.31-acre site on Haslingden Road, on the outskirts of Blackburn, in exchange for a cleared town centre plot on Penny Street. The Penny Street land was formerly home to the Thwaites Visitor Centre, which has since been demolished.
The arrangement is with Monte Blackburn Ltd, the Issa brothers’ property arm. The swap is due to be rubber-stamped by the council’s executive board when it meets on Thursday.
Two sites, different ambitions
The Haslingden Road site sits on a key route towards Junction 5 of the M65 and close to Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital. According to council documents, it is allocated in the Local Plan for employment use, with space for around 1,000 square metres of development.
A report by growth boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood describes the site as being in a “desirable location for businesses” and says it has been marketed as an opportunity for a high-quality convenience retail scheme, reportedly aimed at attracting a branded operator.
Two bids were received through an informal tender process, one from Monte Blackburn Ltd and another from Maple Grove Developments Ltd. Monte Blackburn submitted both a standard offer and an alternative land swap proposal.
The Penny Street plot, known as the former Thwaites building site, was acquired by Monte Blackburn in 2023 from Euro Garages for £475,000. Euro Garages had bought it from Thwaites in 2021 for the same price. The building was demolished in 2025 and the site is now cleared and fenced off.
For five years before demolition, the centre had been occupied by Blackburn’s Bureau Centre for the Arts and was once home to Daniel’s Bar.
No cash involved
Under the proposed deal, neither side would pay cash. The report describes the land swap as “fair and equitable for both parties”, as quoted in a news report.
Council officers argue the Penny Street site’s central location, close to town centre amenities and land already in council ownership, offers longer-term regeneration opportunities. It could also provide additional parking in the short term, ahead of any future development.
Meanwhile, Monte Blackburn would take control of the Haslingden Road plot, where the council’s stated aspirations include creating a well-designed, sustainable convenience retail scheme in what it calls a strong gateway location.
If approved, the swap would mark another step in reshaping parts of Blackburn’s town centre and outskirts, with both public and private interests closely aligned in the redevelopment plans.
