Supporting Blackpool FC with plans for modern training centre

Project overview

Client: Blackpool Football Club
Location: Wyre, Lancashire
Sector: Sports and Leisure
Project status: Planning approved

PWA Planning was brought in to help Blackpool Football Club progress with long-held ambitions to create a new combined first team and academy training centre.

What we did

Our planners worked closely with the wider project team to achieve a planning consent for the proposed development on a 35-hectare site within the green belt between Blackpool and Poulton-le-Fylde

The plans for the project included a two-storey training centre, indoor pitch and 10 outdoor pitches, together with floodlights, parking, footpaths, and grounds management facilities.

The training facility was planned to replace the club’s outdated first-team training facilities at Squires Gate and the multiple sites used by the club’s academy, providing better facilities for the club to develop its young players.

The process involved intensive discussions and negotiations with planning officers at two local authorities over a three-year period. Despite being a large scheme in the green belt, there were no consultee objections, and we were able to navigate the application safely through to committee, culminating in a planning consent in 2024.

Under the National Planning Policy Framework, outdoor sports facilities are not deemed inappropriate in the green belt providing the buildings associated with them do not impact on the openness of the green belt.

Ultimately, we were able to demonstrate that the buildings would be located away from main entrance and on the lowest part of the site, therefore limiting any visual impact and preserving the open aspect of the site.

Proactive discussions took place with the design team in ensuring the impact on the openness of the green belt was limited, to a degree that would be found acceptable by the local planning authority. This involved detailed discussions throughout the planning application process, and the provision of additional supporting information to help ensure the planning authority could help support the case presented.

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