Issa brothers' Burnley warehouse plans dismissed over concerns to surrounding houses

The billionaire Issa brothers’ attempt to complete Burnley Bridge Business Park has suffered a setback with a government inspector upholding a local council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the redevelopment.

The dismissal of their appeal is attributed to the height of the proposed structures.

Monte Blackburn Ltd - the property arm of Mohsin and Zuber Issa - purchased the nine-acre site in Magnesium Way, Hapton, in October 2021 to build three warehouses.

However, the development control committee of Burnley Council rejected its officers’ recommendation to grant permission for the proposed details of the redevelopment near Junction 9 of the M65.

Monte Blackburn later approached the government’s planning inspectorate challenging the decision.

Inspector M J Francis has now upheld the decision based on the warehouses’ impact on surrounding houses, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Francis said the proposed warehouses would exceed the maximum ridge height of seven metres for buildings on that part of the business park.

“The main issue is the effect of the proposal on the living conditions of the occupiers of dwellings that adjoin the site,” the inspector said.

A Monte Blackburn Ltd spokesman said the firm, which was “disappointed” with the inspector’s decision, was “now considering all options.”

But opponents of the proposed development plan welcomed the outcome of the appeal.

Burnley Bridge Action Group chair Clare Hales, who led the opposition to the scheme, said, “we always knew that once someone who wasn’t local looked at the plans, they would see that 13 metre-high industrial units, just metres away from residential homes, was a completely unreasonable use of the land.”

Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham of the Conservative Party said, “We all knew the problems with the height of this proposed development and so it is right that it was knocked back.”