GREENFIELD sites for housing in Earby and industry in Barnoldswick have been identified in Pendle Council's new draft local plan.

In Earby a 1.64 hectare site has been allocated for possible housing. It is part of a field between the back of houses on Bawhead Road and Springfield School.

In Barnoldswick, a 3.35 hectare greenfield site has been earmarked for new industry. The land at Long Ing runs from the end of Victoria Road and Moss Side to the edge of the lower sports field at West Craven High School. A new access off Kelbrook Road would be required, probably off the existing track to Lower Park Marina.

The new road would also service the existing Silentnight Beds plant at Moss Shed, taking heavy lorries off Essex Street and Rainhall Road. The former Barnsey shed site, on the opposite side of the canal to Moss Shed, is also earmarked for industrial development and already has a planning permission on it.

If all that land was developed, it would mean a substantial block of industrial and business use on the outskirts of Barnoldswick.

The local plan is a 15-year blueprint to guide the development of the borough and prevent undesirable development. The previous local plan expired in 2001, leaving the area vulnerable to speculative development. The new plan will undergo thorough public consultation before a final version is adopted, to run to 2016.

The targets for identifying land for housing and industry are set by Lancashire County Council, as part of its Strategic Plan. If Pendle fails to allocate the required amount of land for employment and new housing, the decision over sites could be taken out of local hands and made by a Government-appointed inspector.

At a press briefing on Monday, Pendle's planning manager Andy Wiggett said: "We have a legal duty to allocate land that Lancashire County Council sets the numbers for. Our job is the 'X marks the spot bit'. We have to locate these areas for future development."

In total the council had to find land across its area for 2,000 new houses and 35 hectares for employment. However, much of that allocation can be met through re-using previously developed "brownfield" sites, with the Government urging local authorities to give priority to such sites.

Three new sites have been allocated for possible housing use at Earby, Nelson and Reedley, while two sites have been earmarked for industry at Long Ing and a larger site at Colne, close to the M65. Other possible sites have also been identified, but none of them are in West Craven.

Many of the sites identified in the new draft local plan were previously protected under the old plan with a view to their possible future allocation. Next month councillors must decide which sites will be put forward for full public consultation.

At Monday's briefing senior councillors and council officers spoke of the need to replace much of Pendle's dilapidated pre-1919 housing with more modern and attractive housing. They also spoke of the need for new and attractive industrial sites to attract inward investment.

Janet Bradbury, the council's director for regeneration, said that the Lomeshaye industrial estate at Nelson was now full and the council had to find new sites.

"There is a very real need to provide industrial land and sites that are attractive to business, well located and with good access to the national road network," she said.

Planning manager Andy Wiggett said the new West Craven Business Park, off Skipton Road, Earby, was already taking off well and was one reason why land for new housing had been identified in the town.

Janet Bradbury added: "The Crownest industrial estate (Barnoldswick) is full and as part of the Market Towns Initiative we want to ensure that people who want to work and live in Barnoldswick can do so. We want to make it a sustainable community."