Homes England hunts contractor for £6m Preston sports club

Whittingham and Goosnargh Sports and Social Club is to be delivered as part of the redevelopment of the 150-acre Whittingham Asylum site.

Homes England was granted planning permission to redevelop a six-acre chunk of the site off Whittingham Lane into a sports and social club July.

Now, the government agency has launched a hunt for a contractor to deliver the £6m project.

The Whittingham and Goosnargh Sports and Social would comprise a clubhouse, 11 a-side football pitch, multi-use games area, and a caravan/camping area.

The project is required to be delivered as part of the planning obligations for the wider redevelopment of the site into 750 homes.

Homes England is targeting an April 2025 start on site for the 18-month project.

The Whittingham Hospital site, near the village of Goosnargh and around five miles outside Preston, was built in 1873 and grew to be the largest of its type in Britain, hosting nearly 3,000 patients across a wide range of buildings. The hospital also formerly had its own rail link before it closed in 1995.

The site was acquired by Homes England, then the Homes & Communities Agency, as part of its 2005 Hospital Sites Programme, but has not been redeveloped owing to market conditions, planning issues, and infrastructure constraints.

Hive Lane & Planning, Campbell Reith, Space + Place, TEP, Miller Goodall, and FLOH are featured on the project team.

To view these plans, search for application reference number 06/2024/0313 on Preston City Council’s planning portal.