Blackpool Council approve development of former Blackpool Airport runway as wit will create new jobs

Sixteen new business units are set to be built on part of a redundant runway next to Blackpool Airport after town hall planners gave the go ahead to the scheme.

The units will be housed in three two-storey buildings which will house light industrial units and offices on a triangular parcel of land off Amy Johnson Way, which is on the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.

According to planning documents, the site includes a large redundant taxiway which used to connect to the main runway at Blackpool Airport.

But it is now said to be overgrown and suffers from fly tipping and is used informally as a motor cross trail.

Applicant Martin Crouch is also proposing to provide 61 car parking spaces and landscaping after permission was granted by Blackpool Council under delegated powers.

But precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of aircraft using the neighbouring airfield.

Blackpool Airport, which was consulted as part of the process, said if the scheme went ahead street lights should be “shielded so they do not dazzle aircraft manoeuvring on the airfield, cannot be seen from aircraft approaching to land, and aligned so that they could not be mistaken for runway lights.”

In making their decision council planners said the development “would bring financial investment into the Blackpool and would generate a number of employment opportunities during both the construction and operational phases to help meet Blackpool’s future employment needs and to support sub-regional growth.”

The Enterprise Zone is one of Blackpool’s main hubs of economic growth.