Planners give green light to Barrow businesses
Last updated at 16:50, Wednesday, 07 November 2012
BARROW is set for a double jobs boost, after two companies were given the green light for major new developments in the town.
Up to 80 new jobs are set to be created when a new Premier Inn and Tesco Express store open.
Barrow Borough Council granted planning permission to both developments at a meeting at Barrow Town Hall yesterday afternoon.
The committee chose to approve plans for a hotel with 80 bedrooms in North Road, next to the Dock Museum.
The plans also include a Brewers Fayre pub and restaurant to be built on the side of the three-storey building.
Planning officer Charles Wilton said the new hotel would be positive for the area.
He said: “The planning process encourages developments on brownfield sites in built up areas. This fits in with the planning policy like a glove.”
Premier Inn’s parent company, Whitbread PLC, held confidential discussions on the project with the council for more than two years before finally going public in 2011.
The development hinged on the council’s executive committee agreeing to sell the Dock Museum car park to Whitbread for an undisclosed fee.
Premier Inn runs more than 650 hotels across the UK and this will be their first hotel in Furness. Plans for a new Dock Museum car park on the opposite side of the museum were also accepted, with a new entrance to the attraction set to be created.
And councillors voted unanimously to grant planning permission for new signage to be fitted at the former Hitchens site in Rawlinson Street.
Supermarket giant Tesco has taken over one of the units and submitted plans for a new shopfront, doors, windows and the installation of an ATM cash machine.
Around 20 new jobs are set to be created when the store opens and the Evening Mail understands that this will happen before Christmas.
Mr Wilton said that access to the store would only be from Rawlinson Street and the existing car park will be used by customers.
The former Hitchens building was purchased by developer the Northhold Group and occupants are being sought for the other units.
First published at 16:10, Wednesday, 07 November 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Great, perhaps when every square metre of Barrow is covered with either tarmac or concrete Barrow council will be happy.
The area surrounding the dock museum is bad enough now for congestion, lets make it even busier. Planners and highways dept have destroyed the whole area........
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The new tesco store car park at hitchens is set to cause chaos to that area including the abbey rd holker st/rawlinson st junction. Should be interesting.
Posted by Martin on 8 November 2012 at 17:44