Burnley Town Centre and Canalside Masterplan
Opportunities:
Education
Residential
Offices
Technology
Retail
Tourism/ Leisure
Burnley Town Centre and Canalside Masterplan
Burnley Town Centre and Canalside Masterplan is a £200m plan to transform the town, building on a new Canalside University Campus and bringing in new leisure, business and residential uses.
Burnley has already seen significant investment in the town centre and canal-side areas, including a multi-million pound public realm scheme along St James Street, a new anchor retail store, junction upgrades to improve car and pedestrian access, and the refurbishment of historic waterside buildings and derelict sites.
Other Masterplan interventions include:
Pioneer Place – a new leisure development in the heart of the town centre anchored by REEL Cinemas. Delivered by Maple Grove Developments, it is due for completion summer 2023.
Town 2 Turf – a £6m highway and public realm scheme improving connectivity between the town centre and the Premiership Football ground, which is subject to significant investment.
Canalside Neighbourhoods – opportunities to create contemporary canal side residential neighbourhoods, utilising heritage buildings and cleared sites.
Charter Walk Shopping Centre – Burnley Borough Council purchased the centre in 2021 and is currently working up future options to introduce new uses.
Lower St James Street Cultural Quarter – this area links the Canalside with the town centre, where the sensitive restoration and re-use of heritage buildings to create spaces for artists and creative businesses is underway.
Place De Vitry – opportunity for landmark offices on a prominent site.
A substantial University Campus to accommodate over 5,000 FTE students by 2028 with a focus on medical sciences is a key driver. Located on the banks of the Leeds – Liverpool Canal, the campus is strategically located with easy road and rail links across East Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
Work has already been completed on the conversion of Victoria Mill and Sandygate Mill to provide circa 10,000m2 of teaching, social and administrative space. A new 136-bed student accommodation scheme was completed in 2021, together with new public realm and public spaces. 23
Work is currently underway on the conversion of Newtown Mill, incorporating state of the art teaching facilities and a business and innovation space, to be completed in summer 2024. A 2-hectare site is available for future expansion.
Promoter: Burnley Borough Council, Burnley/Barnfield Joint Venture, UCLan.