M&s reveals Colne foodhall plan beside M65 services with 170 parking spaces
The retail partnership behind a planned Colne foodhall has opened a public consultation on proposals for a store next to the EG On The Move services at the end of the M65. The m&s and Monte Blackburn Ltd scheme, if approved, would reshape the motorway-edge site with a large new Food Hall, new jobs and extensive parking and sustainability features.
Colne site next to EG On The Move services
The proposal places the Food Hall adjacent to the EG On The Move forecourt at Whitewalls Drive where it meets the M65. EG On The Move’s Colne location opened in November 2024 and took the operator’s estate to 45 sites after a 34-site acquisition from EG Group the same month. The existing Colne services already include a filling station, Spar, Starbucks, Subway and Sbarro, and the new proposal sits close to Banny’s British Kitchen and Boundary Outlet Colne.
M&s and Monte Blackburn Ltd joint proposal
Monte Blackburn Ltd, the property arm of the Issa brothers, has partnered with Marks & Spencer on the plan for a Food Hall in Colne. The scheme is described in different documents with varying size figures: one plan lists the Food Hall at 2, 300 sq m (7, 545 sq ft), while online consultation pages set out a 24, 748 sq ft store with a trading floor area of 17, 990 sq ft. The landowner has said it has no comment at this stage. The M65 site already has planning approval for a small warehouse development, but the partners will submit a joint full application to Pendle Council after the consultation period.
Parking, EV charging and rooftop photovoltaic panels
The scheme would deliver around 170 customer car parking places, landscaped and integrated into the existing access road serving the roadside services. Planned features for the car park include EV charging points, accessible bays and secure cycle parking. The building is proposed to include renewable and efficiency measures such as rooftop photovoltaic panels and solar PV, together with energy-efficient heating and cooling systems and biodiversity enhancements.
Jobs, suppliers and Lancashire economic resilience
Developers say the foodhall would create up to 70 new jobs. M&S has stated the store would deliver more products to its local customers and that it is proud to support British farming, naming Lancashire-based suppliers Bright Blue Foods in Shadsworth and Winterbotham Darby in Clitheroe. The consultation material adds that the food hall will further strengthen these relationships and contribute to Lancashire’s economic resilience.
Construction timeline and planning hurdles
Consultation pages went live on 10 March 2026 ahead of a planning application to Pendle Council. Project timetables indicate construction could start in late 2026 if permission is granted, with opening anticipated in Autumn 2027. The timing matters because a separate Monte Blackburn and Marks & Spencer project in the region has encountered legal challenges: a stalled proposal for a £10. m food hall on Frontier Park was granted planning permission by Hyndburn Council in April but is now awaiting a High Court hearing after a second legal challenge from supermarket Tesco backed by Blackburn with Darwen Council.
What makes this notable is the combination of motorway-adjacent retail ambition and attention to low-carbon measures, alongside a planning environment that has seen recent legal contestation. The partners will now run their public consultation before lodging the full application with Pendle Council, and any approval would lead directly to construction preparations later in 2026 and the targeted opening in Autumn 2027.
Additional contextual details remain unclear in the provided context, including precise phasing of construction works and finalised store dimensions, and will be resolved through the consultation and the planning application process.
