Blackpool pushes on with rejigged Revoe sports village
Proposals for community pitches close to Bloomfield Road stadium have been lodged, as the council looks to put Town Deal funding to work.
Place reported in March that cabinet sign-off was requested for a change of programme at Revoe Community Sports Village, with the council taking on delivery in-house of the sports pitches as phase one, taking over the lead on this from Blackpool FC.
Four main requests in all were made of that cabinet session, with the other asks being the appointment of a consultancy to lead on detailed design, cost plan and planning application – the consent now validated – and the third and fourth being that the head of legal services be allowed to enter into the necessary land deals with BFC.
Cassidy + Ashton has now filed the plans on the local authority’s behalf for the land at Seasiders Way, north of Blackpool FC.
The professional team also includes sector specialist STRI, Spectrum Acoustics Consultants, civil engineer Hermolle Associates, transport firm TPS and Rachel Hacking Ecology.
The land amounts to around 3.4 acres and had ben allocated for housing, as phase two of Foxhall Village – however no reserved matters application was ever brought forward and the site has been earmarked since 2021 for alternative community uses.
Phase one will include scope for two 7-a-side 3G pitches, a multi-use games area, and two padel courts.
Among those to benefit will be BFC’s women and girls’ teams and BFC Community Trust’s Tiny Tangerines programme, along with users such as walking football groups and wheelchair sports clubs.
Blackpool Council has taken over the pitches phase as BFC’s consultant team highlighted ground condition issues, threatening viability. The council, with the clock ticking on its Town Deal cash, took the burden on. Around £6.5m was secured from the government funding stream in 2022 for this specific project.
It was stressed at March’s meeting that phase two – the Bloomfield Road stadium’s East Stand and associated public realm – will be funded by the club, with the council taking on the cost of acquisitions on Henry Street’s western side to enable the scheme.
The fresh Revoe application can be seen on Blackpool Council’s planning portal, reference 26/0178.
