A KEY change in land designation to speed up the creation of 1,300 jobs on the Burnley Bridge Business Park is now with government inspectors.

The 32-acre site near the M65 next to the A679 Accrington Road is being reallocated for employment instead of agriculture.

The redesignation, part of Burnley’s Local Plan, will simplify and speed up the approval process for the 600,000 square feet of industrial and warehousing space involved in the £45million Burnley Bridge South extension of the business park.

The new development was announced in July last year as the council was completing the planning blueprint for the future of the borough for appraisal by government inspectors.

Following amendments in the light of their comments, the final version is now back in Whitehall with approval expected early this summer.

Named Burnley Bridge South, it will create another 1,300 jobs on top of the originally planned 1,400. James Chapman, managing director of Eshton, said: “Burnley Bridge South forms part of our vision to expand Burnley’s business park presence and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to investing in Burnley.

“Our strategy of continued growth is on track and we’re confident that the next 12 months will bring further significant milestones for the business park and Burnley.’’

Burnley Council leader, Mark Townsend, said: “We are waiting to hear from the planning inspector on final approvals and we hope to adopt the Local Plan over the summer.

“It is good news for Burnley that Eshton plan to take this site forward.

“The change in status of the land from agricultural to employment land is vital for the smooth development of Burnley Bridge South.

“It will speed up and simplify the planning application and approval process for the new element of the scheme.

“We have confidence in Eshton to deliver a quality development following the success of their previous business park development Burnley Bridge which has created hundreds of new jobs for the town.’’

To date, the three-phase development off the M65 has brought and estimated £50m in investment to the borough.

The Burnley Bridge South scheme will provide a similar mix of warehousing and industrial accommodation to the existing site. The three developments, clustered around Junction 9 of the M65, already comprises Burnley Bridge and Titanium Park, which together span 80 acres and has 735,000 sq ft already occupied with room for a further 135,000 sq ft. Major firms such as IT firm Exertis and haulage giant Fagan and Whalley took space on the 70-acre first phase.