The official launch of Blackburn's £30 million Cathedral Quarter development has been marked with a ground breaking ceremony.

All the partners involved in the ambitious scheme - the Cathedral, Blackburn with Darwen Council, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the developer Maple Grove Developments Limited, part of the Eric Wright Group – gathered to mark the next phase of the development.

This a major milestone for the Blackburn Cathedral Quarter development, which has been five years in the planning, as the regeneration work starts on site.

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The partnership has worked closely over the last five years to bring forward the highest quality development possible around one of Lancashire's most important cultural assets at this key gateway into the town centre.

The £30 million scheme includes a Premier Inn hotel, restaurants, shops, new bus interchange, a public square, landscaped gardens, and new offices. It will transform this side of the town centre and could create around 350 jobs.

The development also comprises Clergy Court, the Cathedral's residential development, which will bring the Clergy and staff to live on site along with a refectory, library and office accommodation. This is the first new residential development within a Cathedral precinct since the 16th Century and will be of international importance in the Church of England.

The project is part funded by the HCA. European Regional Development Fund and a loan awarded to Maple Grove by the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership from the Government's Growing Places Fund.

(CD/IT)