MORE than 100 new homes could be built on the site of a former mill near Darwen.

Plans have been submitted to build 110 houses on the former Springside Works site off Belmont Road in Belmont.

The area was one of the sites designated for new housing in Blackburn with Darwen Council’s ‘local plan’, after the Government ordered that it had to identify sites for almost 10,000 homes in the borough.

The plans, submitted by Sedwick Associates on behalf of Urban Springside Ltd, also include engineering works to remodel the land to suit a housing development. And in a design and access statement, Matthew Symons of Sedgwick Associates said: “In the years since Kruger left Springside Works, it has become a site where contamination, dereliction, erosion, drainage and habitat value inter-relate in a way that makes the removal of environmental threats and its restoration to safe and beneficial uses both challenging and exciting.”

The plans for the housing include public open spaces at either end of the site and an improvement of the access road from its junction with the A675.

Mr Symons added: “The proposals will preserve and enhance the openness of the green belt via a landscape-led restoration scheme.

“The scheme will enhance biodiversity and respond to climate change.

“The access strategy will result in significant improvements to highway safety along the length of the access road.”

Last week, the Lancashire Telegraph revealed that a proposal was being drawn up for 110 homes off Cranberry Lane while permission already exists for 133 new houses on land between Pole Lane and Spring Meadows.