A FIVE-YEAR row between two neighbouring councils over a development at Whitebirk seems to have been settled after planners at Hyndburn Council gave the go-ahead for three car dealerships.

Hyndburn had locked horns with Blackburn with Darwen Council over what should be built on land off Whitebirk Drive, Rishton.

The Blackburn authority objected to the inclusion of a fitness centre in plans for car showrooms submitted by developers Barnfield Construction Ltd.

That application was called in by Stephen Byers, then Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Barnsfield withdrew the scheme to avoid delay and submitted a revised plan without the controversial exercise centre.

Whitebirk is in Blackburn with Darwen but the land being developed is within Hyndburn, creating tension between the authorities.

A meeting of Hyndburn's development services committee approved the application, subject to a legal agreement for a contribution from Barnfield to upgrade the nearby towpath and a green transport plan.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has not objected to the revised plan but said the dealerships should only be allowed if the rest of the site was developed for retail use.

The showrooms will deal in new and used cars and the plans also include three office blocks, workshops, and customer and staff parking at each of the three sites.

A new junction, controlled by traffic lights, will provide access and pedestrian and cycle ways will be provided on the site and to the canal towpath.

After the meeting Coun Win Frankland, a member of the development services committee, said: "It's a mess of a site so the sooner it gets cleaned up and the dealerships put on the better.

"It's a grotty piece of land and if they are going to improve the canal area that will be an additional benefit."

Coun Frank Connor, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Council's planning and highways committee, said: "If it's been resolved I'm quite happy about that.

"The problem with land on a border is that both councils want to protect their own interests. Negotiation is the only way forward.

Hyndburn Council's development control manager Brent Clarkson said: "The Secretary of State would have had a public enquiry which could have put six to nine months on the project.

So the developers have deleted for the moment the controversial element - the fitness centre - and gone for the things that are not controversial, the car dealerships and offices.

"They have left part of the site undeveloped at the moment so no doubt they will be coming back to us in due course."

A spokesman for Barnfield said work should start in the next two weeks and take six to seven months.

"Because of the timescale involved we thought it better to withdraw the earlier application. We wanted to get the showrooms up and running early next year," he said.

"We are delighted we have permission. Now the hard work starts with the building. It's a high profile site and people have their own views on its use".