Lancashire planning consultancy De Pol Associates has secured permission for 176 new homes on a 22-acre site which includes the former Bispham High School off Bispham Road in Blackpool. The proposal was recommended for approval when it went before Blackpool Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday January 20th.
The development site is owned by Blackpool Council and comprises the former school grounds and playing field, a neighbouring public open space and a large area of undesignated scrubland behind the Department for Work and Pensions’ Warbreck offices.
The permission allows for the construction of new homes on the land previously occupied by the school and its playing field, to be accessed from Bispham Road, and on the scrubland to the south west accessed via Regency Gardens.
An existing four-acre area of open space will be retained adjacent to the locally-listed public park – the Devonshire Road Rock Gardens – and a children’s play area. There will also be new areas of open space around the edges and through the centre of the new development, retaining existing trees and enhancing natural habitats, along with new pedestrian routes linking both areas of housing with Bispham Road, the Rock Gardens and Regency Gardens.
The hybrid application also includes full permission for the relocation of an existing air cadet hut from Bispham Road to a site on the northern boundary, accessed from Kylemore Road, which will provide improved facilities for the cadets and with the addition of car parking space for users.
Bispham High closed in 2015 when the school merged with Collegiate High School to form the new Aspire Academy, now located on the former Collegiate site. The Bispham site has since been cleared and redevelopment of the land is a council priority to allow for the provision of new homes in the borough.
Blackpool Council Leader Cllr Lynn Williams said: “We are very pleased that the planning application has been approved and we can now progress the plans to build new homes for local people. The site will provide an excellent and critical boost to Blackpool’s housing supply.
“We listened to the local community and their concerns and have reduced the number of homes accessed from Regency Gardens from 86 to 56, as well as committing to make improvements to the local highways.
“Blackpool Council will also be making a contribution of £200,000 towards new 3G pitches on a currently disused pitch at Stanley Park, to ensure there is a quality provision of public playing fields for the local community.”
The contribution for the 3G pitches will be met from the £1,050,000 funding that Blackpool Council secured for the site under the Government’s One Public Estate/ Housing Land Release programme. This funding support has been critical in enabling the site to be brought forward for development and help deliver the Government’s new homes targets.
Development is subject to conditions and the removal of an objection to the loss of the playing field by Sport England. The committee accepted the argument from De Pol that the fields were surplus to requirement, as identified in the council’s own recently published Playing Pitch Strategy.
De Pol also demonstrated that the school fields have never been publicly accessible, have not been used since the school closure, and that there is sufficient alternative provision in the locality. Should Sport England not remove the objection, the Secretary of State will be asked to confirm approval despite the objection, or to call it in.
The site is also proposed for residential allocation in the council’s draft local plan and its development would contribute towards boosting Blackpool’s five year housing supply, said De Pol Associates MD Alexis De Pol.
He said: “The permission allows for the redevelopment of a derelict brownfield site to create new homes for local people, helping the council address its housing shortfall and making the most of a previously developed land as is preferred by planning policy.
“We demonstrated the site is appropriate for housing due to its accessibility and is compatible with neighbouring land uses, and provided a robust response to concerns over the loss of the playing field, which has never been a publicly usable space.
“The retention and enhancement of the western part of the site as public open space will be an asset for the community and support ecological diversity, while the new pedestrian links will open routes through the site for the benefit of all local residents.”
Details involving the exact mix of properties, their design and the affordable contribution, will be decided at the reserved matters stage. Blackpool Council is currently in negotiations over the sale of the site for development.
This is the second of three projects for which Blackpool Council has appointed De Pol to secure planning permission, for sites within its ownership. Permission was granted for 47 properties at Ryscar Way in Bispham late last year, while an application for 330 homes at Woodhouse Farm in the neighbouring borough of Wyre is currently awaiting determination.
Consultants and advisors for the Bispham scheme include DC&MG Associates, Curtins, Cameron S Crook and Associates, Ironside Farrar, WSP and historic building consultant Chris O’Flaherty.
