Two hundred new houses proposed for Blackpool site

The scheme to redevelop the site of Bispham High School, which closed in 2015, already has outline permission for 176 properties.

But house builder Rowland Homes has now applied for full permission for the investment and is seeking permission for 200 houses with landscaping, public open space and parking.

The main site would be occupied by 137 properties and be accessed via a new mini-roundabout on Bispham Road, while 56 properties would be accessed from Regency Gardens and seven from Kylemore Avenue.

Existing open space to the north west of the site would be retained and enhanced including by planting new trees and shrubs.

Documents submitted with the application say the scheme of two to four-bedroomed houses has been designed to fit in with the existing character of the surrounding area.

Developers also say updated transport assessments show there is sufficient capacity on surrounding roads to cope with the additional 24 homes proposed.

The outline application, which was approved by the council's planning committee in January 2021, attracted more than 50 objections from nearby residents whose concerns included the additional traffic which would be generated.

But a planning statement says: "It was established in the previous hybrid application that the highway network could accommodate the additional traffic generated by the residential development of the site subjectto various off-site highway enhancements.

"The transport assessment has since been updated to reflect the fact that this full application is seeking an additional 24 homes, and this confirms thatonce the traffic volumes are distributed across the surrounding local highway network the difference in trip generations would be imperceptible."

The development would also see the loss of some sports pitches, but these are being replaced including with a new football pitch at Stanley Park.

When the outline application went before the planning committee last year, Greenlands ward councillor Rick Scott warned building more houses would make congestion on key routes such as Bispham Road worse, while turning onto Devonshire Road from Regency Gardens was already difficult due to busy traffic conditions.