A FORMER Mayor should stand down as a councillor because of his breach of coronavirus restrictions a veteran colleague has said. Cllr Iftakhar Hussain resigned as Blackburn with Darwen borough’s ‘first citizen’ this week and suspended himself from the council’s ruling Labour group after being given a £200 fine. Now Darwen East Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Browne said he should quit as a councillor when he is up for election in May. Bastwell and Daisyfield ward’s Cllr Hussain said: “I shall be sitting as an Independent and continuing to represent the people in may ward as I have always done.
Blackburn mayor resigns after COVID-19 breach
The Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen has resigned after he received a police fine for breaching coronavirus restrictions.
Cllr Iftakhar Hussain was fined £200 after police found him at a house celebrating a wedding with a reported eight other people.
Cllr Hussain has now stepped down from his role and has offered his ‘deepest apologies’ for the incident.
He said: ‘Given recent events, I have taken the decision to step down from my position as the mayor of Blackburn with Darwen with immediate effect. I believe this is the right thing to do and I no longer believe I can continue to serve as mayor to the best of my ability.
The development site of Whalley Old Road COUNCILLORS will next week take a second look at a controversial housing development where planning permission was revoked just hours after they granted it. Last month they approved the scheme for 165 houses south of Whalley Old Road in Sunny Bower, Blackburn, after town hall officers and Labour councillors dismissed complaints by residents spokesman Stephen Atherton and Conservative members they should have been provided with a special report on mineral deposits below the land. The following day the decision was suspended after legal checks confirmed the document was required. Now the Mineral Resources Assessment has been compiled and will be submitted with the application for Blackburn with Darwen Council Planning Committee to consider a second time on Thursday.
A COUNCIL should suspend approving new homes schemes, Conservatives have said. Tory growth spokesman Cllr Paul Marrow and his predecessor Cllr Derek Hardman called for the moratorium at Blackburn with Darwen Borough s Council Forum on Thursday night. They were concerned about over-development of green fields. They also raised the revocation of a permission for 165 new homes on Whalley Old Road in Sunny Bower just hours after it was given. Town hall bosses quashed the decision the day after it was approved by the planning committee on January 21 after officials concluded the meeting failed to have received a mineral resources assessment to consider.
A FARMING couple want to create a new riding arena for their daughters as part of an upgrade of their premises. Alan Bretherton and Jackie Aspin have applied for planning permission to demolish an existing barn and replace it with a new multi-purpose agricultural building and add a sand paddock nearby. The changes to Brownlow Farm on Pleasington Lane in Feniscowles, Blackburn, will enable them to make their operation profitable. The new paddock is to allow their two young daughters to ride a small pony and donkey. The couple have 25 acres at Brownlow Farm and rent 90 acres at Shadsworth, 25 acres at Ribchester and another 25 acres elsewhere in Feniscowles.