A Lancashire council is planning to spend £500,000 to keep rubbish from falling from a vacant town centre tower into the streets below.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has suggested covering the 16-story structure behind the town hall and over the Mall shopping complex in Blackburn with netting.

Executive Member of Growth and Development. Labour councillor Quesir Mahmood has petitioned the council to approve the expenditure to make the building and its cladding safer in the long run.

Conservative growth spokesman Councillor Paul Marrow stated that actions to ensure the building’s safety should have previously been taken, and that immediate action was required to dispose of it because it was now “a liability” for the council.

The building was abandoned in 2022, with the exception of a small facilities management personnel that left in April 2024. Mr Mahmood stated in his study that it was built in 1969 and had its exterior reclad in the 1990s.

“During 2025 work has been undertaken to safely decommission the building with a focus on reducing holding costs and to allow time to consider the future of the building,” the architect stated.

Mr Mahmood stated that “routine inspections and maintenance” had highlighted “actions to be taken”. He stated that the building structure is “safe,” but due to the “age and condition of the external cladding system and increasingly severe weather conditions,” independent assessors “have concluded that the entire building should be enveloped as soon as possible.”

“More specifically, the solution identified requires the installation of a full-height debris netting system fixed to the building structure to provide an effective interim control measure,” he told reporters.

The renovation, which may cost up to £500,000, would “ensure that the building is protected and secure, and that the risk of falling materials is reduced to a minimum.” “This solution would also enable the council to assess the future of the building,” according to him.

Councillor Mustafa Desai, leader of the 4BwD opposition group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, “I support the recommendations, but I’m concerned that this building has been vacant for several years and represents a long-term liability.” “Its future plans are unclear, and this will continue to pose challenges.”

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